Suzhou will send an investment promotion delegation to France and Germany by charter flight on December 9, the second such service after a similar trip to Japan last month, according to the city's Department of Commerce on December 6.
The 200-strong delegation includes 30 teams and approximately 100 senior managers from foreign trade enterprises, who plan to promote customer relationship management and win new orders.
This will be the first charter flight organized by a Chinese local government to promote economic and trade cooperation with the two European countries since COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
The delegation will participate in more than 230 activities such as visiting multinational companies, promoting investment, and meeting with top financial institutions and business associations. The highlights are five promotions in European economic hubs and visits to headquarters of Fortune 500 companies.
Suzhou's trade with Germany totaled $14.8 billion in 2021, up 33.9% year-on-year, accounting for over 6% of China's total with the European country. Suzhou is home to more than 660 German-invested enterprises including BOSCH Mobility, Voith and Siemens and received actualized investment of $2.99 billion. The city has added 54 German-invested projects this year. In addition, Suzhou has invested in 93 projects in Germany with an agreed investment amount of $1.18 billion.
In 2021, Suzhou's trade with France climbed 22.1% year-on-year to $4.42 billion, accounting for over 5% of China's total with the country. From January to October this year, Suzhou's trade with France saw an expansion of 3.5% year-on-year to $3.78 billion, 5.6 percentage points higher than the nationwide growth.
Suzhou has more than 130 French-invested enterprises, such as L'Oréal, Arkema and bioMérieux, and the actualized investment inflow reached $1.04 billion. Suzhou has also made investment in 17 projects in France with an agreed amount of nearly $50 million from the Chinese side.
From November 17 to 23, the city's Department of Commerce organized a charter flight service to Japan, China's first such service for economic and trade groups at the local government level since the epidemic in 2020. The 88-member delegation included members of 12 investment promotion teams and 51 representatives from foreign trade enterprises. In Japan, they visited 62 enterprises and institutions, held 3 exchanges and promotions, and reached agreement for 32 projects with an intended investment of $1.86 billion.
Suzhou has close economic and trade relations with Japan. It is home to nearly 3,000 Japanese-invested enterprises and the actual use of Japanese investment totaled $13.64 billion, accounting for 53.9% of the province's total from the country. In 2021, Suzhou's imports and exports with Japan reached $33.56 billion, accounting for 49.8% of the province's total.
