Suzhou saw steady growth in open economy and business in 2018

Suzhou took overall consideration in its opening-up and has formed polices in developing business to bring more benefits to local residents over the past year. In its 2018 results, the city maintained steady growth in its open economy and commerce industry.

The trade scale of Suzhou hit a new high in 2018 with a growth of 12 percent year-on-year in its annual import and export volume. The export volume exceeded $200 billion for the first time, reaching a total of $206.8 billion.

The quality of foreign investment steadily increased in 2018, along with the actual utilized foreign capital. The newly registered foreign capital increased by 20.3 percent year-on-year, of which 42.2 percent of that capital increased their investments. Strategic emerging industries in Suzhou accounted for 44.2 percent of the city’s actual utilized foreign capital. A total of 30 foreign-invested regional headquarters were introduced in Suzhou.

Export volumes of new forms, such as cross-border electronic commerce, marketing purchasing, and comprehensive service for foreign trade added up to $2.53 billion, a 10 percent increase compared with that of the previous year.

The service trade in Suzhou kept growing with an 11.2 percent growth in service trade import and export volume. A total of 70 enterprises involved in innovative industries have been formed in Suzhou’s service trade pilot areas and nine of them have been affirmed by the State Council to be promoted nationwide.