Distinct locational advantages: 

Wujiang is located at the junction between Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and at the center of the Yangtze River Delta. With the Changtai (Changzhou-Taizhou), Huyu (Shanghai-Chongqing) and Changjia (Changhzou-Jiaxing) expressways crisscrossing, the district is so conveniently connected with surrounding large cities that it is only a 1-hour drive to Shanghai and a 1.5-hour drive to Hangzhou. Meanwhile, the high-speed transportation network of subways, expressways and elevated highways renders it possible to get to railway stations within 30 minutes, airports within 40 minutes and ports within two hours.

Convenient transportation: 

Wujiang is going to build an intensive and high-level transportation network of high-speed railways, rail transit lines, elevated highways, freeways and expressways during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020).

The Husuhu (Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou) high-speed railway running east-west through Wujiang will begin construction soon and the Tongsujia (Nantong-Suzhou-Jiaxing) high-speed railway running north-south through it has been included in the 13th Five-Year Plan. Suzhou Rail Transit Line 4, running south to Tongli Station in Wujiang, has been put into operation and in the near future, the rail transit system of Wujiang will be completely integrated into that of Suzhou and will be connected with those of neighboring cities like Shanghai and Jiaxing.

The south extensions of Suzhou’s west ring and east ring elevated highways have been opened to traffic and two highway tunnels under the Taihu Lake are under construction, which will help form a complete highway loop and further promote the integration of Wujiang into Suzhou. The Wujiang section of Changjia (Changshu-Jiaxing) Expressway is now in use, facilitating the development of east Wujiang, especially Fenhu New & High-tech Industrial Development Zone.

Natural ecological splendor: There are over 300 lakes of different sizes in Wujiang, 56 of which are protected at the provincial level taking up about a half of the total in Jiangsu. In these years, with its habitable advantages of lakeside natural scenic areas stretching over a hundred miles, the lakes and first-level air and second-level water, Wujiang has integrated the concept of ecological civilization into the new-type urbanization planning. Over 3 billion RMB (about 0.435 billion USD) has been granted for the construction of a series of distinctive wetland parks, including East Taihu Lake Ecologic Tourism Resort, Ludanghu Lake Ecological Park and Shengdi Ecological Park, and over 4 billion RMB (about 0.624 billion USD) for the comprehensive improvement of the East Taihu Lake. All of the efforts have brought the beautiful scenes of the Taihu Lake and  Suzhou Bay back to people’s eyes. Wujiang was awarded China Human Settlements and Environment Award and honored on the list of the National Ecological Cities and of Pilot Cities for the Construction of Ecological Advancement.

A sound economy and a firm industrial foundation: 

In 2018, Wujiang achieved a gross production value of 192.503 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7%; a general public budget revenue of 20.29 billion yuan, an increase of 10.6%; a fixed asset investment of 57.422 billion yuan, a 6.7% increase; and an import-export volume of 22.893 billion US dollars, an increase of 6.7%. The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents grew by 8.3%. The total number of private enterprises in the district has exceeded 66,000 and the total registered capital is over 360 billion yuan.

There are 16 listed companies and 54 companies listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotation (NEEQ) system, known as the “new third board”. Besides, 4 enterprises were listed in China’s Top 500 Enterprises and 5 in China’s Top 500 Private Enterprises. Hengli Group ranks the 235th among the world’s top 500 companies.

Under the new normal of China’s economic growth, Wujiang’s economy maintains a steady and rapid growth. The district holds a lead in Suzhou in the regional economic competitiveness and the competitiveness of local industries or enterprises.

Apart from the traditional silk industry, Wujiang has developed several new pillar industries including the chemical fiber industry, the optical fiber and cable industry, and the elevator industry, whose production accounts for one tenth, one third and one sixth of the total national output respectively.

Wujiang has formed a complete industrial chain for the electronics and information industry, with an upstream and downstream matching rate of over 95%. The district is a leading producer of optoelectronic products, electronic components and network data machines. It ranks among the top in Jiangsu province in smart manufacturing, with an investment of over 39.6 billion yuan. It has 79 provincial-level demonstration intelligent workshops, accounting for 30.2% of Suzhou’s total and ranking first among all counties (districts) in Jiangsu province.

Efficient services provided by the People’s Government of Wujiang District. The government, always being open to serve people, has focused on the improvement of service efficiency. The number of administrative items for examination and approval has been reduced to 201, which is the smallest compared to that of any district or county in Suzhou. Especially since 2016, there have been reforms in serving the people and enterprises, namely “an official seal for examination and approval procedures” and “a phone number for service”. The policy of “an official seal for examination and approval procedures” created a new pattern of handling official works by investigating and making reply in one office window and one system, which obviously simplifies the procedures and increased some 50% of working efficiency compared with the legal time limits of the state. And the policy of “a phone number for service” has integrated all kinds of convenience service hotlines and achieved the result of handling the complaints, consultations and works of the masses by one number. Meanwhile, we have boosted the reform of commercial institutions and actively explored the simulative approval procedure and the agency system of services for enterprises. We also promoted the policy of “integrating licenses into one”, so as to simplify the registering and canceling procedures and make altogether efforts to “free” the innovative enterprises. At present, the online preliminary reviewing rate of the new-founded enterprises’ online registration reaches 98%, and the foreign-funded enterprises’, 100%. The approval procedure is continuously optimized and condensed, with a focus on the target of “3550” reform (completing the procedure of founding a new enterprise within 3 working days, the registration of real estate within 5 working days, and approving the construction permission of industrial construction projects within 50 working days).

Great policy support from the People’s Government of Wujiang District. Focusing on the construction of an innovation ecosystem, the People’s Government of Wujiang District has continuously improved the enforcement of the Industrial Support Policy of Wujiang District (Trial) and the category of supported projects, and made accurate efforts concentrating on the procedures and criterion of the supporting policy. The government works hard to improve subsidy policies for the enterprise which has gained its first successful entrepreneurship and for entrepreneurship-driven employment. The government strives to ensure the leading role of the fund of funds (FOF) of industrial investment to form a superimposed effect with state-owned funds such as venture capital guiding fund and innovation fund of science and technology. Meanwhile, the government also gives more financial support to create new financing products and service patterns in ways that direct more capital into the real economy.