The east's eden

An ancient garden city is growing its economy and cultivating culture

This edition of China Daily supplement puts the spotlight on a quintessential Chinese city - Suzhou, in Jiangsu province.

At first sight, it is a city that is capable of almost everything. It is one of the cities where overseas investors have most densely gathered. Its GDP, 1.45 trillion yuan ($230 billion) in 2015, ranks the seventh-largest among all the cities in the Chinese mainland.

At the same time, Suzhou is one of the cities in China that has best protected its past. Its old city is full of beautiful historical gardens, traditional handicraft studios, and alleyways that evoke the works of scholars and artists, both ancient and more modern.

But Suzhou is also showcasing many opportunities that are in the making for the future. Already a city with a population of some 10 million and a per capita annual income of around $20,000, the city is now seeking a development driven, not just by capital, but by knowledge and culture.

Suzhou is a key member of the city cluster development plan for the Yangtze River Delta - a central government program, released by the State Council, China's cabinet, in May, promises to create a new national growth engine in the coming years.

Its importance can hardly be overstated. Much of the country's reform and development has involved the constant building and rebuilding of cities, from cities open to foreign investment and large manufacturing, to those with flourishing services for their growing middle class and a good environment.

Cities are leaders of change - as seen in the Special Economic Zones, first of all Shenzhen in the 1980s, then Shanghai in the 1990s, most notably its new development area of Pudong, and the massive building of Chongqing Municipality in the 2000s.

In fact, one theme runs throughout the newly commenced 13th Five-Year Plan, from 2016 to 2020, and that is to strengthen the role of the nation's city-clusters, or geographic areas with densely located and closely interconnected cities.

In this process, there is little doubt that the flagship cluster will be in the Yangtze River Delta, which by government definition encompasses the Shanghai municipality and three provinces - Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.

With a combined land area of no more than 3.7 percent of the Chinese mainland, and just 17 percent of its population, the Yangtze River Delta contributed nearly 16 trillion yuan, or nearly one-quarter of the country's total GDP of 68 trillion yuan in 2015, a year-on-year growth rate that was 1 percent higher than the national average.

From all this, Suzhou's importance can be easily seen: As a contributor of nearly 10 percent of the economy of the entire Yangtze River Delta, Suzhou - its city government, its people and its entrepreneurs - will be closely watched.

The Suzhou government is now busy with upgrading local industry parks, funding education and public cultural services, importing world-class specialists, and training young professionals and craftspeople. City officials say they believe they will set an example for the rest of the nation.

(China Daily 06/24/2016 page25)