Why is Suzhou a role model?
In most parts of the central and western regions of China, the vast majority of cities are neither coastal nor bordering other countries.
However, this does not hinder the development of many inland cities. From Chengdu to Xi'an, and from Chongqing to Guiyang, the rise of central and western cities in recent years is obvious to all. The strategies of strengthening provincial capitals, building metropolitan areas, promoting industrial transfer, and opening up inland areas have been implemented with remarkable success.
But there is always a question hanging over their heads: When globalization enters a period of in - depth restructuring and industrial chains start to reshuffle, what can inland cities rely on to participate in global competition?
It has to be said that there is a city that is a good "learning model" - Suzhou.
01
Building a "Super Port"
Why Suzhou?
First, look at its location. Although Suzhou is not directly on the sea, it is along the coast and close to the Yangtze River. There is a world - class port cluster right at its doorstep. In contrast, a western city may have to cross two or three provinces to reach the nearest seaport.
But the problem is not "how far it is from the sea". In fact, the biggest advantage of Suzhou is not its ports along the Yangtze River.
What makes Suzhou strong is that it has transformed the entire city into a "super port" for industries to go global and foreign capital to enter. Taicang Port in Suzhou was the starting point of Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas in the past and is now an important part of Suzhou Port. It has become the "No. 1 foreign - trade port on the Yangtze River". In 2025, the export volume of cars from Taicang Port exceeded 900,000. One out of every eight cars exported in China is sent from Taicang.
If Taicang Port is a physical port, the core of Suzhou's "super port" lies in integrating all the elements of opening up, such as resources, allocation, and services, along the entire chain.
The benefits of this are: For domestic enterprises looking to access foreign resources, Suzhou can serve as an excellent "springboard"; conversely, for foreign enterprises seeking to connect with domestic resources, Suzhou is the top choice.
Recently, the world's attention has been focused on Suzhou, this "super port".
In May, the 32nd APEC Ministerial Meeting on Trade was held in Suzhou. The meeting focused on major economic and trade issues in the Asia - Pacific region and globally, and made preparations for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November in terms of economy and trade.
In the first quarter of this year, Suzhou's export - oriented economy once again delivered an outstanding performance: The total import and export volume reached 799.9 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 26.5%, 11.5 percentage points higher than the national average. It accounted for 6.8% of the country's total import and export volume, contributing 10.9% to the growth of the country's foreign trade.
Among them, Suzhou's import and export volume with other APEC economies reached 569.9 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 26.1%, 12.7 percentage points higher than the national growth rate.
How did Suzhou achieve this?
02
How Does Suzhou "Break Through the Circle"?
Like most cities, Suzhou started with the traditional OEM model of "importing raw materials and exporting finished products". However, Suzhou is now a real high - ground for export - oriented economy.
Over the years, Suzhou has been focusing on two things.
The first thing: Developing foreign - funded headquarters economy. In 2024, the Ministry of Commerce issued "Several Measures to Support the Deepening of Comprehensive Open - up and Innovation Experiments in Suzhou Industrial Park", clearly stating to support Suzhou Industrial Park in building a leading headquarters economy cluster in China.
As of 2025, Suzhou had a total of 278 regional headquarters and functional institutions of multinational companies, including the China - level or above headquarters of Aptar, Rogers, Yuken, and Nexteer, which radiate to the Asia - Pacific market.
However, quantity is just the surface, and quality is the key. The structure of foreign investment in Suzhou is undergoing fundamental changes: from "factories" to "headquarters", and from "manufacturing workshops" to "R & D centers". In this way, Suzhou itself has become a "foreign - investment platform", greatly enhancing its "attraction to the outside world".
Take Faurecia Automotive Component Systems Co., Ltd. in Changshu as an example. This French - headquartered company settled in Suzhou in 2017. With the increasing penetration rate of new - energy vehicles, the company has become a second - tier supplier to major domestic and foreign new - energy vehicle manufacturers.
In January this year, the Faurecia New - Energy Vehicle Intelligent Cockpit project was signed and settled in Changshu again, mainly providing complete seat support for Chery New - Energy Vehicles. After the project reaches full production, the annual output value is expected to exceed 1.5 billion yuan.
The second thing: Abandoning the "manufacturing node" and focusing on the "chain - master hub". This measure is easy to understand. As a "manufacturing node", a city can only participate in the global industrial chain and hardly get involved in the processes of pricing, bargaining, and standard - setting. However, the "chain - master" serves as a "stable anchor" in international cooperation.
Meanwhile, Suzhou has a smart strategy in choosing chain - masters. After the global development of AI, the construction of AI data centers has become part of the new infrastructure, and capital has poured into the industrial chain, creating a new trend. During the same period, Suzhou focused on AI hardware and built a number of chain - master enterprises in areas such as optical modules, servers, switches, PCBs, liquid cooling, connectors, semiconductor equipment, and edge - computing terminals.
These enterprises or industries are mainly targeted at the B - to - B market. Through the development of key AI components, they have caught up with this wave of technological development. In particular, the output value of optical modules in Suzhou has ranked first in the world.
It is the existence of these AI chain - master enterprises that has made Suzhou a key "core pole" in the global AI industrial chain. In a sense, it is not Suzhou that goes to the international market to find business, but the international community that actively comes to Suzhou for cooperation.
The direction of these two things is obvious. On the one hand, Suzhou is striving to improve its internationalization level and connect with international resources; on the other hand, Suzhou is constantly strengthening its advantages and expanding into the international market. Only in this way can it achieve a higher - level "break - through".
03
A Better Environment
Suzhou's achievements in building a high - ground for foreign investment are obvious to all.
Taicang is a very interesting case in the region. Currently, Taicang is home to more than 560 German - funded enterprises. Six out of the top ten German machine - tool enterprises and nine out of the top 20 German family - owned enterprises have set up operations here. More than 90% of the early - settled German enterprises have increased their investment and expanded their production. It is truly the "hometown of German enterprises".
Why do German foreign - funded enterprises choose Taicang?
Now, there are at least two favorable factors. First, German enterprises are characterized by being "small but excellent". A large number of hidden champions focus on niche markets and have an extreme pursuit of precision manufacturing and craftsmanship. Taicang is one of the regions in China with the highest density of manufacturing and the most complete supporting facilities. German enterprises can find qualified suppliers, partners, and technical workers here, and the efficiency of industrial - chain connection is much higher than in other places.
At the same time, based on the shared manufacturing foundation, Taicang has formed three industrial clusters led by German enterprises in the fields of auto parts, high - end equipment, and new energy, with more than a thousand supporting enterprises.
Second, the certainty of the institutional environment.
German enterprises pay attention to long - term planning in business and are most afraid of an unstable policy environment. Taicang has been deeply involved in cooperation with Germany for 33 years and has formed a mature service system for German - related cooperation, ranging from dual - vocational education to intellectual - property protection, from government services to living facilities. The cooperation with the Fraunhofer Society is being implemented, and the first Sino - German dual - certified zero - carbon park in China is under construction. These are not short - term expedients for investment promotion but long - term institutional arrangements.
Generally speaking, Taicang has turned its cooperation with Germany into a "system". From industrial connection, technological cooperation, and talent cultivation to living facilities, each link has dedicated institutional arrangements and service provisions. The value of this system lies in that it does not depend on the attention of a particular leader or the policy preference of a particular period but has become a fixed urban function and institutional inertia.
The combination of these two reasons has created a "magnetic effect" of Taicang on German enterprises: Once you come, you don't want to leave. Moreover, your partners will also follow you.
Of course, in recent years, Taicang is not the only case that shows Suzhou's attractiveness. In fact, from the city - wide level to local areas, there is a clear goal of building a "frontier high - ground" for attracting foreign investment.
During the APEC Ministerial Meeting, Suzhou will also host the Asia - Pacific Business Community Partnership Dialogue and the 2026 Suzhou Global Investment Promotion Conference, as well as the "Export to China" Suzhou Special Event and other economic and trade activities to attract a large number of projects and conclude a number of orders, continuously expanding the space for foreign economic and trade cooperation.
04
What Can Other Cities Learn from Suzhou?
What Suzhou is doing actually illustrates a principle: The degree of openness and the concentration of foreign investment do not depend on whether a city is coastal or not. The key lies in how well you do things.
Why can Suzhou transform itself into a "super port"? In fact, it just answers two questions well: How can industries go global better? How can foreign capital enter better?
Looking back at Suzhou, its ability to go global better actually relies on its "industrial depth". Simply put, it means making the scarcity, manufacturing precision, and yield rate of products far beyond others, creating irreplaceability.
As a result, Suzhou's irreplaceability in the international industrial chain is established.
"Industrial depth" is not limited by geographical location, and there are already many such cases. For example, one out of every three laptops in the world is made in Chongqing. How did the laptop industry come to Chongqing? It has nothing to do with ports.
That's because Chongqing has achieved vertical integration of "brand owners + contract manufacturers + component suppliers". More than 800 supporting enterprises are clustered in Xiyong Micro - Electronic Park, and all the supporting facilities for a laptop can be completed within the park.
When your industrial depth reaches a certain level and customers have to buy your products, they won't care whether you are 200 kilometers closer or farther from the port.
How can foreign capital enter better? This requires building a good "docking port".
The highest - level attraction is cultural resonance and emotional belonging. Look at Taicang. By continuously providing high - quality business and living services, it has created an atmosphere of "feeling at home". Don't underestimate the importance of building such a "soft environment". This is also the deep - seated secret for Suzhou to continuously expand its opening - up and attract the world's attention.
Can other inland cities learn this approach? I think there is no problem. In today's highly vertically - integrated industrial chain, there are many opportunities for everyone. Once a city recognizes its own position and makes a precise breakthrough in its advantages, there is still considerable room for development.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Western City Affairs", written by Western Jun, and is published by 36Kr with permission.