|
|
| |
| ABOUT SUZHOU
|
| |
 | General Information |
| Located in the Coast Economic Development Zone, Suzhou was promoted in April 1993 by the State Council as one of the largest cities of China. Thus, the city was vested with certain legislative powers. The total area is 8,488 square kilometers, of which the urban area is 1649 square kilometers, newly completed area is 102 square kilometers, and the old city proper is 14.2 square kilometers. The whole population is 5.78 million, of which the urban population is about 2 million. |
|
| Transportation |
| Today, Suzhou is easily accessible with the support of Shanghai-Nanjing High Way, Beijing-Shanghai Railway, Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and three national high ways (Nos. 312, 204, 318). The Suzhou-Jiaxing-Hangzhou Expressway is being constructed. Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport is one hour's drive from Suzhou. |
|
| Telecommunications |
| By the end of 2004, Suzhou's capacity of telephone exchange exceeded 2.77 million lines, with a total number of 12.68 million telephone subscribers, and 1.1 million mobile subscribers. The telephone usage is widely popularized in the urban and rural areas with 85 subscribers out of every hundred persons. |
|
| Economic Growth |
| Suzhou's GDP in 2004 was 41.8 billion USD, 12.6 percent higher than 2003. It is one of the top five economically developed cities in China. |
|
| Industrial Development |
| The traditional industries of Suzhou include silk, textile, light industrial products, machinery, electronics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, metalwork, building materials, handicrafts and food processing. Priority for development is given to those leading new & hi-tech industrial sectors such as electronic information, electromechanical integration, biopharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and cutting edge household electrical equipment. Electrical power and heavy chemicals are also produced in Suzhou. Suzhou is one of three centers in China for silk production and export. |
|
| Foreign Trade |
| Suzhou's import and export value in 2004 topped 102 billion USD, an increase of 57% over 2003. The export destinations include more than 130 countries and regions. |
|
| Foreign Investment |
| The foreign investment tends to focus on large and hi-tech projects. The additional contractual sum of foreign investment throughout the year reached 14.1 billion USD with actual foreign capital of 12.883 billion USD expended. By the end of 2004, the accumulated contractual sum of foreign investment was 135.56 billion USD with actual foreign capital of 120.3 billion expended. 5,172 projects in Suzhou are invested by 177 enterprises. They rank within the Fortune 500. At present, there are 15,000 foreign-invested enterprises in Suzhou. |
|
| Suzhou Industrial Park |
| Suzhou Industrial Park is a project of cooperation between the governments of China and Singapore. The construction commenced in May 1994 on a planned area of 70 square kilometers. |
|
|
|
