An online signing ceremony for 10 projects receiving a total of 3.5 billion yuan ($554.0 million) in investment between Suzhou New District and seven cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and San Francisco, was held on March 3.

The projects involve cutting-edge industries such as high-end medical equipment and biopharmaceuticals, integrated circuits, and the digital economy. The projects are expected to generate over 10 billion yuan in annual output and have strong commercialization potential, bright market prospects, and the potential to overcome technological bottlenecks.

The projects are also expected to help SND cultivate over 200 science and innovation projects and attract over 100 high-tech and 20 gazelle or unicorn companies.

As one of the first national high-tech districts in China, SND has been developing rapidly in recent years.

Statistics show that the district is currently home to over 2,000 foreign enterprises, among which 660 are Japanese and over one-third are European or American.

Innovation clusters on strategic emerging industries like new-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, digital economy, integrated circuits, medical devices and pharmaceuticals, and low carbon are also growing strongly in the district. Their total output accounts for 62.8 percent of the total among industries above a designated size.

The annual output of the medical devices industry has increased by an average of more than 30 percent, while the output of the new-generation information technology industry has exceeded 100 billion yuan.