Suzhou’s GDP in the 1st quarter of this year topped half a trillion renminbi, a year-on-year growth of 7.9 percent, top among the 26 cities in China with an annual GDP of over ¥1 trillion. But how exactly has that come to be?
今年一季度，苏州GDP突破5万亿元，同比增长7.9%，在全国26个年GDP超万亿城市中名列前茅。但这到底是怎么发生的呢？
Pivotal has been the private economy. In Suzhou, that is responsible for more than half of the city’s total economic output, more than 60 percent of tax revenue and over 80 percent of urban employment. And in Suzhou, more than 90 percent of enterprises are privately owned. That’s a whopping total of 831,400 firms.
关键是私营经济。在苏州，经济总量占全市一半以上，税收收入占全市60%以上，就业人口占全市80%以上。而在苏州，90%以上的企业都是私营企业。总共有 831,400 家公司。
Xu Tianshu is Director of the Suzhou Research Centre at the Yangtze River Industrial Economics Research Institute and a professor with the School of Business at Suzhou University of Science and Technology. Speaking with China Report, Xu Tianshu says there are essentially three types of private enterprises in Suzhou.
徐天舒，长江工业经济研究院苏州研究中心主任，苏州科技大学商学院教授。徐天舒在接受《中国报道》采访时表示，苏州的民营企业主要分为三类。
The first comprises those dating back to the very beginning of China’s opening up; township enterprises that were praised by Deng Xiaoping as “emerging” in the 1980s.
第一个是中国改革开放之初的时期； 20世纪80年代被邓小平誉为“新兴”的乡镇企业。
Then there are the foreign-funded private enterprises which gathered in Suzhou as the City became a magnet for foreign investment before and after China joined the World Trade Organisation.
再加上中国加入世界贸易组织前后，苏州成为吸引外资的磁石，外资民营企业纷纷聚集苏州。
Lastly, there are the relative newcomers, comprising the rapidly-developing small and medium-sized scientific, technological innovators; private enterprises to have taken hold in the past 10 years.
最后是相对较新的进入者，包括快速发展的中小型科技创新者； 过去10年，私营企业占据了主导地位。
All well and good, but not enough to adequately explain Suzhou’s juggernaut development. For that’s a software issue, specifically local government’s approach to handling private enterprise.
一切都很好，但还不足以充分解释苏州的高速发展。因为这是一个软件问题，特别是地方政府处理私营企业的方式。
Xu Weijuan is Chairman of Suzhou Collaborative Innovation Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd. “Don’t disturb when there is nothing to do, answer all questions and respond to all requests”, said Xu Weijuan as to the attitude of Suzhou government departments at all levels towards private enterprises.
徐伟娟是苏州协同创新智能制造科技有限公司董事长。对于苏州各级政府部门对待民营企业的态度，徐伟娟表示，“无事不打扰，有问必答，有求必应”。
“In this working environment, our company can grow from a small blade of grass to a big tree step by step. … We must work hard to make the company better and create more profits, and taxes. Only in this way can we repay the government’s care.”
“在这样的工作环境下，我们的公司才能一步步从一颗小草成长为一棵大树……我们一定要努力把公司做得更好，创造更多的利润、税收，只有这样才能回报政府的关怀。”
So where does Suzhou go from here? The 2024 Suzhou Municipal Government Work Report proposes that Suzhou should build a highland for the development of the digital economy, one that deepens the city pilot of digital transformation for small and medium-sized enterprises.
那么苏州将何去何从？ 2024年苏州市政府工作报告提出，苏州要打造数字经济发展高地，深化中小企业数字化转型城市试点。
But Suzhou is still more than this. It’s a place where actions speak louder than words.
但苏州的魅力还不止于此。这是一个行动胜于雄辩的地方。
Xu Tianshu, who attended Suzhou’s “First Meeting of the New Year” (新年第一会) this year, told reporters that the people sitting in the first three rows of the venue were not party and government officials as is almost always the case, but representatives of local science and technology enterprises. And that’s a large part of the secret to Suzhou’s success.
今年参加苏州“新年第一会”的徐天舒告诉记者，坐在会场前三排的人几乎不是往常的党政官员，而是当地科技企业的代表。这是苏州成功的很大一部分秘诀。
