Innovative Practice of Humanities and Economics (Observation of High Quality Development of Yangtze River Delta Integration), A City

Suzhou is becoming a practical sample for people to understand Chinese path to modernization and humanistic economics.

Adhere to the combination of technological modernization and the modern civilization of the Chinese nation for research and development, and adhere to the principles of people-oriented, cultural empowerment of the economy, and economic revitalization of culture... The cultural and economic "double-sided embroidery" has accumulated sufficient material foundation and spiritual strength for the development of Suzhou city. Looking around Suzhou, the creative transformation, innovative development, and high-quality economic and social development of excellent traditional Chinese culture are all at the forefront.

Excellent traditional culture nourishes a superior business environment and enhances urban competitiveness

The meticulous craftsmanship of Suzhou embroidery fully reflects the resilience, patience, and determination of the Chinese people, accumulating cultural heritage for Suzhou's leapfrog development and giving investors great confidence.

More than 30 years ago, Lee Kuan Yew, then Senior Minister of Singapore, led a delegation to Suzhou during his visit to China. Suzhou carefully arranged an inspection team to see the "Three Treasures": Suzhou gardens that showcase an elegant environment, Suzhou embroidery that embodies exquisite labor, and Suzhou bonsai that represents exquisite culture. In February 1994, the governments of China and Singapore signed an agreement to cooperate in the development and construction of Suzhou Industrial Park.

Up to now, Suzhou Industrial Park has gathered over 200 foreign R&D centers and 118 multinational company headquarters. In 2022, Suzhou Industrial Park achieved a regional GDP of over 351.5 billion yuan.

Suzhou Huaxing Yuanchuang Technology Co., Ltd., located in Suzhou Industrial Park, has been mainly engaged in the research and development and production of testing equipment in fields such as tablet displays, intelligent wearables, semiconductors, and automotive electronics in recent years. Founder Chen Wenyuan decided to return to China to start his own business because he valued the "craftsmanship spirit" of Suzhou people: "Doing something in one's life and achieving it to the extreme, this spirit is already present in Suzhou's traditional culture." Now, the company has become a specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprise in Jiangsu Province.

The ancient city, gardens, Suzhou embroidery and other cultural heritage have become the business card of Suzhou's investment environment. For the question of "why choose Suzhou", most investors will mention the attractiveness of Suzhou culture.

While developing the economy, we should not forget to pay attention to and nurture culture. The Suzhou Industrial Park has reserved the "C spot" by the Jinji Lake for culture - the Grand Theater, Cinema, Art Museum, Cultural Museum, and other facilities built around the lake, forming a new cultural landmark in Suzhou. The integration and interaction between economy and culture complement each other, nurturing a high-quality cultural and business environment, and attracting more talents to invest and develop.

Nowadays, the total number of talents exceeds 3.7 million and the total number of high-level talents exceeds 380000. Suzhou, which is striving to build as the "preferred city for employment and entrepreneurship for workers," has gradually become a reality.

"To provide high-quality innovation and entrepreneurship soil, excellent caring and heartfelt services, preferential talent support policies, and a beautiful ecological and livable environment." The main responsible person of the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee stated that excellent traditional culture nurtures a superior business environment, and Suzhou will cultivate humanistic sentiments, radiate the spirit of "where people come to Suzhou, there must be something", and continuously improve the city's competitiveness.

Harmonious coexistence and mutual achievement between tradition and modernity, jointly striving for innovation and creation at the forefront

Suzhou, with its rich culture and exquisite craftsmanship, is at the forefront of Jiangsu.

At the 2023 Kunshan Metaverse International Equipment Exhibition held in June this year, multiple exhibits made visitors exclaim "exciting" and exclaim "unexpected". As a county-level city, Kunshan has held the Meta Universe International Equipment Exhibition, which made Wu Zhiqiang, an academician of the CAE Member and a professor of Tongji University, sigh: "Most places are still talking about 'what the Meta Universe is', and Kunshan has begun to pay attention to' what the Meta Universe industry is'."

In October last year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and five other departments jointly released the Action Plan for the Integration and Development of Virtual Reality and Industry Applications. According to the plan, the overall scale of China's virtual reality industry will exceed 350 billion yuan by 2026. Standing at this "wind", Kunshan aims at the development direction of the next 5 to 10 years and regards the metaverse industry as an important track for transformation, upgrading, and innovative development.

In April this year, the signing ceremony of key projects of Kunshan Meta Universe was held. Several key projects of Kunshan Meta Universe were signed and launched, and the Black Lake Industrial Internet Empowerment Center was unveiled.

Suzhou has always produced skilled craftsmen and a thriving handicraft industry. Nowadays, traditional industries are constantly achieving breakthroughs and leading through creative transformation and innovative development, and are flourishing in the new era.

The ancient town of Shengze was once renowned for its countless silk fabrics at sunrise, covering the world with clothing. Hengli Group and Shenghong Holding Group in the town started from small weaving and printing and dyeing factories respectively, and expanded up and down the industrial chain, both growing into Fortune Global 500 enterprises.

The diameter of a single thread ranges from a few hundred micrometers to one micrometer. Miao Hangen, Chairman of Shenghong Holdings Group Co., Ltd., said, "We still need to constantly break through and never stop."

"Su Gong and Su Zuo were the 'specialization, refinement, uniqueness, and novelty' of the past." The main officials of the Suzhou Municipal Government pointed out the cultural heritage in economic development and also revealed the dialectical relationship between the development of traditional industries and emerging industries.

In Suzhou High tech Zone, on one side is the elegant and beautiful Suzhou embroidery town. Embroiderers use needles as pens and threads as ink to create breathtaking "double-sided embroidery"; On one side, there are modern buildings and high-rise buildings, and innovative enterprises such as intelligent manufacturing are meticulous and pursue excellence. Tradition and modernity coexist harmoniously in Suzhou, achieve mutual success, and draw nourishment from each other's development, working together towards the forefront of innovation and creation.

Developing a systematic concept of inclusivity, inspiring the potential and vitality of cities

Grasping the dialectical relationship between "one region" and "overall situation", as well as domestic and international, Suzhou draws development concepts and wisdom from excellent traditional Chinese culture, and seeks the essence of humanistic economy.

On June 24th, Suzhou Metro Line 11 was put into operation, with a busy flow of people at the starting station of Weiting Station. Suzhou resident Wen Zhigang was also among the crowd, "I want to take the subway with my family to Shanghai."

Based on the region, seek a city.

Suzhou Metro Line 11 is the first local line to connect with the Shanghai Metro network. Suzhou does not limit its urban development to the local area. Shanghai plays a leading role in driving development, and Suzhou actively embraces Shanghai and integrates into the Yangtze River Delta, promoting coordinated regional development. The person in charge of the Suzhou Development and Reform Commission said that Suzhou should promote integration through connectivity and leverage dividends through integration.

Looking across the country to seek a city.

Suzhou's inclusive mindset and systematic development concept have left a deep impression on people from all over the world. Gathering talents from all over the world and resources from all over the country, serving the people's livelihoods and leading economic development, Suzhou is able to gather people's hearts and prosper in various industries. Nowadays, Suzhou has 160000 industrial enterprises covering 35 major industrial categories, 171 medium industrial categories, and 505 small industrial categories. It is one of the cities with the most complete industrial system in China and the starting point and connecting point of many industrial cycles in the Yangtze River Delta region and even in China.

Connect with the world to seek a city.

Wu region is rich in silk and has always been one of the silk production centers in China, as well as an important node on the ancient Silk Road. Taking full advantage of the opportunities of globalization, Suzhou has fully and massively integrated into the global industrial chain, relying on an export-oriented economy mainly focused on foreign trade processing to achieve leapfrog development.

Cooperating with Singapore, a large number of foreign-funded enterprises have flooded into Suzhou. From pharmaceutical companies, Suzhou has seen the unique advantages of the biopharmaceutical industry. Nowadays, biopharmaceuticals have become an industrial innovation cluster in Suzhou that cannot be moved, crushed, or dismantled. In 2022, the industrial output value of the biopharmaceutical industry in Suzhou exceeded 200 billion yuan, ranking among the top in the country.

Suzhou is focusing on building an industrial technology innovation center with global influence, actively connecting and attracting world-class resources, and striving to become the preferred destination for international capital investment in China.

For everyone and for everyone.

Yu Hui, a villager from Shushan Village, Tong'an Town, Suzhou High tech Zone, enjoys reading books. The Suzhou Library has hundreds of branches throughout urban and rural areas, and high-quality cultural resources are no longer blocked by mountains and rivers. "Books that were only available in the city before are now 'walking to the doorstep'," said Yu Hui.

In 2022, the expenditure on urban and rural public services in Suzhou was 209.62 billion yuan, accounting for 81% of the general public budget expenditure. The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents in Suzhou reached 79500 yuan and 43700 yuan respectively, and the urban-rural income ratio narrowed to 1.82:1.

Coordinating protection and development, unleashing the vitality of excellent traditional culture

The excellent traditional Chinese culture should not only be inherited well in material form, but also in people's hearts.

Visiting the Suzhou section of the Grand Canal, the night tour of Huqiu has provided a new way to open the ancient Huqiu. A number of cultural spaces, such as the "Wumen Wangting" Grand Canal Cultural and Sports Museum and the "Fengqiao Night Mooring" characteristic boat, have attracted people of all ages and genders to take photos.

Starting from May 1st this year, the "Suzhou Grand Canal Cultural Protection, Inheritance and Utilization Regulations" officially came into effect, legislating to safeguard the coordinated development of culture, economy, and ecology, integrating ancient charm with life and the city, and turning the millennium long canal epic into the "most Jiangnan picture" of the new era.

The context continues, and the string song never stops. Over 2500 years of history, it has not only flowed through canals, but also been engraved in ancient cities.

Tourists immersed in the ancient city of Gusu would not expect that in the 1980s, the carrying capacity of the ancient city located in the city center reached its maximum limit. Adhering to the respect and reverence for history and culture, in 1982, Suzhou began to prepare and improve the first edition of the Suzhou Urban Master Plan, and the principle of "comprehensive protection of the ancient city's appearance" was also established.

Develop while protecting, protect while developing. In the new era, Gusu District vigorously promotes the renovation of old cities, urban renewal, and the revitalization and utilization of ancient buildings and old houses. The protection of cultural heritage helps to promote the development of the tourism industry to a new level. Data shows that in the first half of this year, A-level scenic spots in Gusu District received a total of 27.9114 million tourists, an increase of 146.72% compared to the same period in 2019.

Looking from west to east on the main road that runs from east to west in the ancient city of Suzhou, the 24 meter high skyline of the ancient city contrasts with the 450 meter high skyline of the industrial park, forming a harmonious and unified urban outline that is both ancient and modern.

The elegant Wu Culture Museum has become a popular check-in destination for Suzhou's cultural and tourism industry in recent years. The museum not only regularly displays cultural relics, but also holds lectures, cultural and creative events, concerts, cultural and museum research, and citizen archaeology. Visitor Chen Jing exclaimed, "Let Suzhou's history and culture come to life." Over the past three years since its opening, the museum has attracted more than 800000 visitors, with online services exceeding 65 million.

Promoting high-quality development, culture is an important fulcrum; Culture is an important factor in meeting the growing needs of the people for a better life. The main person in charge of the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee said that the profound historical and cultural accumulation is an important factor for Suzhou to stand out among many cities in the past and maintain a sustainable development trend in the future.