China-Japan development cooperation Zone holds Zhangjiagang conference

2023-04-06 15:04:00

The China-Japan (Suzhou) Local Development Cooperation Demonstration Zone held the Zhangjiagang Innovation Cooperation Development Conference on April 4.

The event launched the China-Japan (Zhangjiagang) New Materials Industry Innovation Alliance and announced the China-Japan (Zhangjiagang) Automobile Industry Alliance initiative.

Zhangjiagang Dance School joined Yamanashi Gakuin University and other Japanese schools to enter the China-Japan Friendship School initiative. Shazhou Professional Institute of Technology has also become the home to internship programs of Jatco (Suzhou) Automatic Transmission Co Ltd and Zhangjiagang NSK Precision Machinery Co Ltd.

The event also marked the start of a Sino-Japanese opera called "Dongdu," which literally means “travelling to the east.” Also held was a workshop on the eco-friendly development and cooperation of automotive electronic parts, which brought together famous Chinese and Japanese enterprises to seek new modes of partnership and growth.

As an important destination of Japanese investment in the Yangtze River Delta region, Suzhou has maintained close economic and trade ties with Japan. In 2022, Suzhou's total trade with Japan reached $32.6 billion. Currently, the city is home to about 1,500 Japanese enterprises with actual use of Japanese investment of $13.85 billion. Some Fortune 500 enterprises, including Toyota, Panasonic and Hitachi, have important projects in the city.

The China-Japan (Suzhou) Local Development Cooperation Demonstration Zone was established in 2020. Then in 2021, Suzhou and the Consulate General of Japan in Shanghai jointly set up a consultation mechanism for the demonstration zone, focusing on improving cooperation channels at the government level, building a platform for dialogue and exchange between government and enterprises, and expanding sustainable partnerships.

So far, the two sides have held six exchange sessions on the themes of healthcare, biomedicine, medical devices, cross-border investment, intelligent manufacturing, and energy Internet, providing an efficient platform for networking and cooperation between Chinese and Japanese enterprises in the delta region.