A “BEACON” FOR THE WORLD
Established in 1994 in the city of Suzhou in China’s Jiangsu province, Suzhou Industrial Park is the first government-to-government project between Singapore and China. It has been a platform for Singapore to share its industrialisation experience and governance model with China.
Spanning 278 sq km, the park has evolved into a modern integrated township, home to 1.13 million residents and housing a China-Singapore cooperation area.
Suzhou Industrial Park is one of China’s top industrial zones. It recorded a regional gross domestic product (GDP) of 368.6 billion yuan (US$51.4 billion) in 2023, a 5.9 per cent growth year-on-year. That figure was about 15 per cent of Suzhou city’s GDP that year.
Sectors in focus at the park have changed together with the times. Mr Chan shared that more attention is currently being paid to sectors such as clean energy, biomedical sciences and digital innovation.
For instance, Singapore’s Eagle Renewable Energy has partnered with China-Singapore Green Development to explore opportunities in the renewable energy space in China, while Sembcorp and Zooming New Energy are looking at collaboration in the deployment of large-scale wind and solar power projects.
But Mr Chan stressed that Singapore has always viewed the bilateral project as more than an industrial park.
“It is a symbol of our commitment … to work with China to develop something that allows China to connect with the world, for the world to build confidence with China. So that is fundamental,” he said in response to questions from reporters.
Mr Chan assumed the role of minister-in-charge of the Suzhou Industrial Park on Sep 9. The project is typically overseen at the ministerial level by the trade and industry minister, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).
The move was made following Deputy Prime Minister and Trade and Industry Minister