Why is Suzhou’s economy so developed?

Basic situation of Suzhou’s economic development

Suzhou covers an area of ??8,488 square kilometers and has a population of nearly 9 million, including 5.9885 million registered residents and 6 million temporary residents. It governs Zhangjiagang City , Changshu City, Taicang City, Kunshan City, Wujiang City, Wuzhong District, Xiangcheng District, Pingjiang District, Canglang District, Jinchan District, as well as Suzhou Industrial Park and Suzhou High-tech Zone. In the early days of reform and opening up, it was one of the birthplaces of township and village enterprises in my country, and now it is one of the core cities in the manufacturing base of the Yangtze River Delta. Over the past thirty years of reform and opening up, Suzhou's economy has undergone earth-shaking changes.

First, the economy has experienced leapfrog and extraordinary development. Before 1988, Suzhou's GDP was only 3.2 billion yuan, and it was basically agriculture. By 2008, the city had achieved a regional GDP of 670.1 billion yuan, of which the added value of the tertiary industry was 243.6 billion yuan. The ratio of the tertiary industry was 1.6:62.0:36.4, and the proportion of the tertiary industry increased by 1.8 percentage points compared with the previous year. At current exchange rates, per capita GDP exceeds US$10,000. Ranking fifth among large and medium-sized cities in the country; the city achieved local general budget revenue of 66.891 billion yuan, an increase of 23.5% over the previous year. Local general budget revenue accounts for 10% of GDP. Various main tax categories maintained steady growth, with business tax, value-added tax, and corporate income tax increasing by 7.9%, 16%, and 22.3% respectively. The public sector's financial support capabilities have been enhanced, and the structure of fiscal expenditures has been further optimized. The annual local general budget expenditure was 61.955 billion yuan, an increase of 24.7% over the previous year. Among them, financial investment in social security and employment, science and technology, education, medical and health, and environmental protection increased by 29.1%. Ranked sixth in the country; the total industrial output value is 2.2103 billion yuan, second in the country; fixed asset investment in the whole society is 261.116 billion yuan, fourth in the country; the per capita disposable income of urban residents and the per capita net income of farmers are 18,532 yuan and 9,316 yuan respectively, ranking first in Jiangsu . Suzhou City has become one of the fastest growing and most dynamic regions in Jiangsu Province and even the country.

Second, an open economy has obvious advantages. In 2008, the city's newly registered foreign capital was US$16.34 billion, down 11% from the previous year; the actual utilized foreign capital was US$8.13 billion, an increase of 13.5% from the previous year, of which the service industry's actual utilized foreign capital was US$1.98 billion, an increase of 107.6%, accounting for the city's actual utilized foreign capital. The proportion of foreign investment reached 24.3%, an increase of 11 percentage points from the previous year. The scale of projects using foreign investment will be expanded. The average registered foreign capital of newly approved foreign investment projects (excluding capital increase) exceeded US$7.9 million, an increase of 13% over the previous year. There were 590 newly approved projects (excluding capital increase) exceeding 10 million US dollars, with registered foreign investment of 10.9 billion US dollars, accounting for 68% of the city's registered foreign investment, of which 4 projects exceeded 100 million US dollars (excluding capital increase). More than 1,300 foreign-invested enterprises have successively increased their capital, and the registered foreign investment in capital increase projects was US$6.3 billion, an increase of 5%. 128 of the world's top 500 companies have settled in Suzhou. By the end of the year, there were 970 service outsourcing companies in the city, and the annual offshore outsourcing contract value was US$520 million.

The third is the industrialization of economic development. Suzhou currently has 5 national-level development zones and 11 provincial-level development zones. The development zones take advantage of high-tech industries, modern service industries and high-quality talent gathering, further improve infrastructure and supporting conditions, and focus on functional upgrading and structural optimization. And strive to develop in the direction of characteristics, specialization and ecology. The city's national-level development zones and provincial-level development zones added 12 billion U.S. dollars of registered foreign investment throughout the year, and actually utilized 7.2 billion U.S. dollars of foreign investment. They realized local general budget revenue of 34 billion yuan and total exports of 108 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 73.4% of the city's total. , 88.5%, 50.8% and 82%. The Suzhou Industrial Park Comprehensive Bonded Zone is developing well. The country's first international electronic products trading base has been approved for construction. Suzhou High-tech Zone has established a customs declaration and inspection center. Zhangjiagang Bonded Port Zone has been approved by the State Council. The pilot work of the Kunshan Export Processing Zone to superimpose bonded logistics functions is progressing smoothly. Taicang Port Area’s port linkage, virtual port rapid customs clearance and direct release models have achieved remarkable results.

Fourth, the tourism economy has developed scientifically and rapidly. The tourism industry further strengthens planning and guidance, integrates resources, innovates services, actively integrates into the Yangtze River Delta tourism city circle, strives to promote the transformation and upgrading of the tourism industry, and strives to create the "Paradise Suzhou, Oriental Water City" brand. The city achieved total tourism revenue of 72.4 billion yuan, an increase of 13.5% over the previous year; it received 2.19 million overseas tourists, an increase of 6.5% over the previous year; tourism foreign exchange income was 978 million US dollars, an increase of 10%; it received 52.7 million domestic tourists, an increase of 10% %. The city's travel agencies received 5.5 million passengers, an increase of 20%. At the end of the year, there were 148 star-rated hotels, including 56 hotels with four stars and above. The number of 4A-level scenic spots in the city has increased to 22, and there are 2 5A-level scenic spots. The number of tourists received by the city's scenic spots increased by 12% compared with the previous year.

Successfully held major tourism festivals such as the 11th China Suzhou International Tourism Festival