Suzhou New District offers Japanese firms better service

Suzhou New District has decided to construct an innovative services platform for its Japanese companies in the Shishan sub district -- the first one of its kind in China -- local media reported on June 29.

With an investment of 3 billion yuan ($436.91 million), the Suzhou Japan New-Tech Bay will include three functional zones – an intelligent manufacturing industry park, a technology exchange platform and a headquarters zone for Japanese businesses. There will also be a support services zone located on the 23 hectare Suzhou Japan New-Tech Bay.

The industry park is designed to attract high-quality industrial Japanese projects involving the fields of new-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy and medical devices.

The technology exchange platform will highlight technological cooperation with Japanese scientific research institutes and tech startups to construct itself into a Sino-Japanese technological incubator for different industrial fields.

Officials said Suzhou district will ramp up its efforts to attract leading Japanese companies in advanced manufacturing and the high-end services industries to locate to the region, as well as Chinese and functional headquarters in the headquarters zone of the to-be-built platform.

The support services zone will establish an exhibition center to showcase the high-end products and technologies of Japanese companies, a services station to offer guidance to top Japanese professionals and management teams, as well as other facilities, including a supermarket, a gym and a dining area.

Officials said Suzhou Japan New-Tech Bay is expected to start construction before the end of 2019.

To date, Suzhou New District is home to 550 Japanese companies with a total investment of $20 billion yuan and in 2018 alone, the district recorded more than $10 billion in trade with other countries.