Suzhou has always attached great importance to the optimization of business environment and adhered to the business philosophy of "pro business, secure business and enrich business"; Since 2018, the "upgraded version" of policies and measures for optimizing the business environment has been updated every year to continuously create a market-oriented, legalized and internationalized first-class business environment, and has been rated as the "city with the best reputation for business environment" for five consecutive years. Through an in-depth study of Suzhou's business environment, we found and summarized the following characteristics, namely, "deep foundation, beautiful figures, and solid policies", and objectively presented specific data and examples for readers.
1、 Suzhou's business environment has a "deep foundation"
Suzhou, a city with profound cultural heritage lasting for 2500 years, has maintained the unique urban pattern of the Spring and Autumn Period since its establishment in 514 BC, forming a double chessboard pattern of "land and water parallel, rivers and streets adjacent". The uniqueness of this urban layout makes Suzhou one of the famous historical and cultural cities in China, characterized by "small bridges and flowing water, white walls and black tiles, and historic parks". Suzhou is also rich in human resources. Seven representative works of human intangible cultural heritage, including Kunqu Opera, Guqin, Dragon Boat Festival customs and Biluochun, inherit a long history of cultural traditions.
As one of the birthplaces of China's national industry and commerce, it has been famous for its commercial prosperity since the Tang Dynasty. Based on the thousand year history of commerce and trade, Suzhou has actively explored since the reform and opening up, adhered to the business philosophy of "pro business, secure business and enrich business", and formed a unique development path. What deserves special attention are the "Zhangjiagang Spirit", "Kunshan Road" and "Park Experience", which are not only the key to Suzhou's economic success, but also the active exploration and summary of the county economy, park construction and other fields.
Since the reform and opening up, it has not only inherited a thousand years of business history, but also evolved in the wave of modernization. Suzhou makes full use of two markets and two resources to realize the coordinated development of internal and external communication. Especially in the construction of open platforms such as China Singapore, China Germany, China Japan, China Netherlands, and both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Suzhou has deepened cooperation, attracted a large number of international sister cities, and received more than 170 million Chinese and foreign tourists every year. 160 Fortune Global 500 enterprises have invested more than 450 projects in Suzhou, fully demonstrating Suzhou's openness and attractiveness in the context of globalization.
Remarkable achievements have been made in international cooperation. It has 57 international sister cities and 49 friendly exchange cities. This not only provides a broader stage for the development of Suzhou's local economy, but also provides a model for other cities to learn from. Suzhou is not only a city in China, but also a pioneer in international urban cooperation and cultural exchange. As a city with a long history, prosperity and modernization, Suzhou shows its unique cultural heritage and successful development experience. From the inheritance of history and culture, the thousand year inheritance of business history, the evolution of reform, opening up and modernization, and the breadth of international cooperation and exchanges, Suzhou has attracted the attention of the world with its "Suzhou spirit of fighting bravely for the first-class".
2、 Suzhou business environment "digital beauty"
Suzhou, as a dynamic city, not only has a long history and culture, but also is famous for its strong economic strength and entrepreneurial atmosphere in the contemporary world. Suzhou has made remarkable achievements in talent introduction, scientific and technological innovation, industrial upgrading, economic development and other aspects, and digitally demonstrated the multi-dimensional strength behind its business environment construction and economic prosperity.
First, a generous talent introduction policy. Suzhou has attracted 168 national entrepreneurial talents, which shows its emphasis on high-level talents. Suzhou has a life expectancy of 84 years, and has been rated as "the most attractive Chinese city in the eyes of foreign experts" for 12 consecutive years. At the same time, Suzhou, which has become the global "lighthouse factory", has seven more. This not only provides strong support for innovation and entrepreneurship, but also lays a solid foundation for the sustainable development of Suzhou's economy.
Second, a strong entrepreneurial atmosphere. 76 national science and technology business incubators have built a strong entrepreneurial atmosphere, including 75 potential unicorn enterprises and 401 national specialized and new "little giant" enterprises; The total number of high-tech enterprises is 15700, and the number of national technology-based SMEs exceeds 25000. On the list of Chinese unicorn enterprises, Suzhou has 17 enterprises selected.
Third, it has a deep industrial foundation. Suzhou has performed well in industry. By 2023, the gross output value of industries above designated size will reach 4434.3 billion yuan, and the industrial added value will reach 1154.1 billion yuan. In terms of scale, Suzhou will become one of the major industrial cities in the world and a model of a strong industrial city. Suzhou has 26 enterprises among the top 500 private enterprises in China.
Fourth, strong economic strength. In 2023, the general public budget revenue of Suzhou will be 245.7 billion yuan, and the economic level of the permanent population will be high. Listed enterprises are the yardstick to measure the comprehensive economic strength of local areas. There are more than 260 listed companies in Suzhou both at home and abroad, including 217 A-share listed companies, 55 pioneer board listed companies, and 11 listed companies on the Beijing Stock Exchange.
Fifth, unique innovation and openness. Suzhou has made outstanding achievements in the field of foreign trade and foreign investment. The total import and export of goods in the whole year reached 2572.1 billion yuan, and the export of goods reached 1547.5 billion yuan. The accumulated actually used foreign capital exceeded 150 billion dollars. More than 20000 foreign invested enterprises in Suzhou. The R&D investment of Suzhou reached 105 billion yuan, with an intensity of 4.1%.
Sixth, the unique charm of the city. Suzhou ranked sixth in China's Business Environment Assessment Report 2021, and was awarded the "Best Reputation City" for five consecutive years in the "Survey of 10000 Private Enterprises Evaluating Business Environment" by the All China Federation of Industry and Commerce; For four consecutive years, it has become the "best business environment with districts and cities" in the eyes of private enterprises in the province, and has won the "provincial government supervision and incentive" award for two consecutive years.
3、 Suzhou's Business Environment "Real Policies"
Since 2018, Suzhou has successively introduced a series of policies and measures, including the Action Plan on Further Optimizing the Business Environment and Creating a Good Innovation Ecology, the Implementation Plan on Further Optimizing the Business Environment by Focusing on Enterprise Concerns, and the Innovation Action 2020-2023 on Optimizing the Business Environment in Suzhou, highlighting the importance of innovation ecology, especially the optimization of the business environment. In particular, in 2022, Suzhou introduced the Regulations of Suzhou on Optimizing the Business Environment in the form of legislation, marking that Suzhou has made important progress in establishing a legal environment. The launch of the Regulations of Suzhou on Optimizing Business Environment has provided clear legal support for the future optimization of business environment in Suzhou.
Suzhou has been committed to building the "most comfortable business service brand in Suzhou", and has built a systematic and complete policy system and service system around the goal of "creating the best business environment and consolidating the strongest comparative advantage". By accurately matching the needs of market players, Suzhou actively improves its efficiency, optimizes the investment environment, and strives to make enterprises feel the strongest sense of gain in Suzhou. It has not only made breakthroughs in the policy system, but also achieved accurate docking and optimal efficiency in the service system. Continuous policy improvement and service improvement have provided enterprises with a more convenient business environment and further improved the satisfaction of investors and enterprises. At the same time, Suzhou has gradually formed its own unique business environment ecological theory - "May 4th, March 21st" in the process of building the brand of "Suzhou's most comfortable". The systematic and multi-dimensional consideration of this theoretical system makes Suzhou occupy a unique position in the global business environment.
The path of Suzhou's business environment optimization not only provides beneficial enlightenment for sister cities, but also provides a thought-provoking enlightenment. In the future, in the process of continuous progress, Suzhou will continue to adhere to the innovation leadership, adhere to the stability of the overall framework, the continuity of supporting policies, and the innovation of service measures, create a market-oriented, legal, international, first-class business environment as the development concept, continue to write its own brilliant chapter, and provide a model for the theoretical exploration of Chinese modernization practice and business environment, Make greater contributions to the prosperity of Chinese cities.
(Author: Fang Manlin, Suzhou Development and Reform Commission, Zhao Yang, Suzhou University of Science and Technology)
