Fast Facts

• 2010 GDP: RMB 900 Billion
• World’s top manufacturing location of laptops and digital cameras
• Ranked 5th on the Forbes ‘Best Cities for Business in Mainland China’ list in 2010

Nicknamed “Venice of the East,” Suzhou has a reputation for beautiful landscapes. Lying in close proximity to Shanghai, where costs are rising steeply, the city has in recent years attracted huge amounts of FDI. In addition to capturing the overflow of many companies who find Shanghai too expensive, many suppliers to Shanghai manufacturers are located in Suzhou’s parks and the surrounding area.
Much of this FDI has been directed into Suzhou Industrial Park, which was originally built with large amounts of investment from Singapore.The zone has been responsible for 15 percent of the overall economic output of Suzhou.

Infrastructure
Suzhou is set to continue to expand in the next ten years. The downtown area will be expanded into an area surrounded by highways, while the western boundary will be extended one kilometer towards Lake Tai.

Road
Suzhou is known as the southeast gate to Shanghai and Zhejiang Province because of its well-developed highway network. The Suzhou North Bus Station has the most bus routes to Anhui, Hubei, Fujian, Shandong, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang Provinces. Buses depart for Shanghai from the station once every 20 minutes.

Some of the major roads in Suzhou are Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, Suzhou-Jiaxing-Hangzhou Expressway, Airport Road, 312, 318, 204 and 205 National Highways connecting to major cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Changshu, Zhangjiagang, etc.

Railways
Suzhou is an important city on the Beijing-Shanghai Railway line as well as the Jinghu Railway linking Shanghai and Nanjing. There is an hourly railway service to both cities. D-series trains (dongche) connect to Shanghai in 45 minutes and to Nanjing in 90 minutes. G-series trains (gaotie), which have been in operation since July 2010, connect to Shanghai station and Shanghai Hongqiao station in 25 minutes. Suzhou Railway Station is among the busiest passenger stations in China. Suzhou’s Baiyangwan station for freights is one of the largest freight stations in Jiangsu Province. 

Air
Suzhou does not have its own international airport. It is best to use the nearby airports in Shanghai – Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Pudong International Airport. Hongqiao Airport is 86 kilometers away from Suzhou. Shuttle buses run daily between the airport and Suzhou, taking about 100 minutes. Suzhou’s Shuofang airport and Guangfu airport provide services to domestic destinations.

Ports and waterways
China’s Grand Canal, which reaches north to Tong County in Beijing as well as south to Jiaxing and Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, passes by Suzhou and has been an important means of water transportation for centuries.
Suzhou Port, founded in 2002, consists of Zhangjiagang Port (90 kilometers from Suzhou), Changshu Port (62 kilometers from Suzhou) and Taicang Port (72 kilometers from Suzhou). While Suzhou's port is ranked sixth nationally in terms of general cargo and tenth nationally by TEU throughput, the majority of trade for Suzhou is carried out at Shanghai Port (120 kilometers from Suzhou). 

City infrastructure
The construction of Suzhou Light Rail Line 1 with 24 stations is nearing its final stage. A section is expected to do a test run in July 2011. Line 2 is also under construction with the finish date scheduled for July 2012.

Economy and investment climate
As Shanghai’s cost of manufacturing has risen in recent years, Suzhou has enjoyed tremendous growth by offering a similar investment experience at lower land and labor costs. Largely as a result of this Shanghai-focused strategy, in 2010, Suzhou’s GDP reached RMB900 billion.

The “Shanghai alternative” approach to development is particularly relevant to foreign investors. Many foreign executives located in Shanghai look to Suzhou before anywhere else for further investment, as operations can be managed from Shanghai. Additionally, foreign managers living in the city say that Suzhou’s quality of life has improved dramatically in the last three years, encouraging the relocation of operations to the city.

Additionally, Suzhou has 25 colleges, 70 research institutions, and every year more than 50,000 graduates hit the streets to contribute to the future skilled labor force that Suzhou requires in order to drive its industry forward.

Resources
Government organizations
Suzhou Government Website : http://www.eng.suzhou.gov.cn/english/index.shtml