"The strongest prefecture-level city" has made a strong return, with Suzhou's growth rate ranking first, and the top ten GDP cities in the first quarter released

With the recent release of major economic data in Nanjing, in the first quarter of this year, the list of the top ten cities in mainland China by GDP has been officially released, followed by Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Nanjing. Among them, cities in the Yangtze River Delta account for 4 seats, namely Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing.

Among them, Suzhou has the highest actual GDP growth rate. In the first quarter, its GDP was 554.9 billion yuan. Calculated at constant prices, it increased by 7.9% year-on-year, exceeding the national average growth rate of 5.3%. After comparison, it is not difficult to find that Suzhou's economic growth rate in the first quarter of this year not only ranked first among the top ten cities in GDP, but also ranked first among the 26 cities with a GDP of one trillion yuan in the country. If compared with last year, Suzhou can be said to have bottomed out - in 2023, Suzhou's GDP reached 2.46534 billion yuan, ranking sixth in the country, but the GDP growth rate was only 4.6%, third from the bottom among trillion-yuan cities; last year it ranked first In the third quarter, Suzhou's GDP growth rate was as low as 1.9%, which was only higher than Guangzhou's 1.8% among the top ten GDP cities.

Take the first quarter of last year as an example. The biggest drag factor at that time was foreign trade and industry. You must know that Suzhou is a typical foreign trade and industrial city. Its industrial strength ranks third in the country, second only to Shenzhen and Shanghai. In the first quarter of last year, Suzhou's total import and export volume and industrial added value fell by 15.4% and 2.7% year-on-year respectively. At the same time, Suzhou's GDP was surpassed by Chengdu in the quarter, which once triggered external concerns about Suzhou's decline.

In the first quarter of this year, Suzhou's economy recovered strongly, and the "strongest prefecture-level city" returned strongly. It is true that the reason for Suzhou's outstanding first-quarter data is not without the factors of last year's low base, but its foreign trade, industry and service industries have all surged. ignore. Among them, the total foreign trade import and export volume was 593.48 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%, ranking fourth among the country's major foreign trade cities. During the same period, the total foreign trade import and export volume of Kunshan, the "strongest county-level city" under Suzhou's jurisdiction, was 176.66 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.8%. Among them, Kunshan's exports and imports increased by 7.9% and 27.8% year-on-year respectively, both hitting record highs in the same period.

In addition, the added value of Suzhou's industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 11%, which was 4.9 percentage points higher than the national average growth rate of 6.1%. Among them, the output value of the two major industries of electronic information and automobile manufacturing increased by 10% and 15.8% respectively year-on-year. The total output value of industrial enterprises above designated size contributed 58.5% to the growth, becoming the "ballast stone" for Suzhou's industrial development. In contrast to the same period last year, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size fell by 2.7% year-on-year. The rebound of Suzhou's industry can be seen between one increase and one decrease. ; The added value of the service industry increased by 7.1%, which was 2.1 percentage points higher than the national average and 1.6 percentage points higher than last year.

In addition to data, if we focus on Suzhou's actions and practices, they are more worthy of attention and analysis.

On January 3 this year, Suzhou's "First Meeting of the New Year" - the city's work conference on promoting new industrialization was held. In the new year, the "Suzhou Intelligent Manufacturing" action will be fully implemented to strengthen the foundation and improve quality, and strive to create a world-leading "Intelligent Manufacturing City". city". Suzhou is one of the cities in China with the largest industrial volume, the most complete supporting facilities, and the strongest vertical integration capabilities. On this basis, Suzhou has set goals and tasks to promote new industrialization: in about three years, it will strive to form four trillion-yuan leading industries including electronic information, high-end equipment, advanced materials, and new energy, and the total industrial output value will reach 5 trillion yuan, pushing GDP to 3 trillion yuan. This goal is within reach of Suzhou. Even last year, Suzhou's GDP approached 2.5 trillion yuan and its total industrial output value exceeded 4.4 trillion yuan, ranking second in the country after Shenzhen. By 2035, Suzhou will strive to build a world-leading "Intelligent Manufacturing City".

Strong county and town economies are important features of southern Jiangsu, especially Suzhou. In the 1990s, rural enterprises in southern Jiangsu were booming. Some media described it as "six tigers leaping from Suzhou." At that time, several counties and cities each had their own "development experience" and fought for their own advantages, turning a pool of spring water Stirring up and down. Today, Suzhou's "County Legion" is still very strong - in the list of the top 100 counties in the country in 2023, Kunshan, Zhangjiagang, Changshu and Taicang all rank in the top ten, and Kunshan has ranked first for 19 consecutive years. On February 1 this year, Suzhou held a "good start" mobilization and deployment video conference for the first quarter and a "double comparison, double viewing" competition for major projects in the city. The 10 economic sectors under Suzhou's jurisdiction "passed through" one by one to reveal the economic performance in 2023. Indicators and the progress of key projects in the fourth quarter, outspoken shortcomings, reporting on goals and plans, and making statements to strive for the first quarter and get off to a good start.

In order to stir up the spring water more thoroughly and stimulate the vitality of "economic towns" such as towns, streets, development zones, etc., this year Suzhou held the first work exchange meeting focusing on the town economy. On April 2, the city’s economic town work exchange meeting in the first quarter of 2024 was held. The purpose was also to highlight work, find gaps, and clarify ideas. Data shows that among the 57 major economic towns gathered in Suzhou this time, 14 have a total industrial output value of more than 100 billion yuan. Among them, the GDP of Yushan Town in Kunshan City will exceed 100 billion yuan in 2022, becoming the first economically important town in the Yangtze River Delta to enter the ranks of "100 billion towns". It was proposed at the meeting that the first priority for an economic town is to work hard to achieve economic results, highlight projects as the king, concentrate resources and strength to make core industries bigger and stronger, and at the same time truly bring out the pioneering spirit of the grassroots, boldly try and venture boldly, and create new achievements.

Suzhou's purpose is very clear. It organizes economic town work exchange activities, which are not only for mutual learning and mutual learning, but also for mobilization and encouragement. It is to strengthen the cornerstone of towns and streets and provide strong support for the city's high-quality development. At the meeting, the main leaders of the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee specially It was mentioned that all localities should "closely focus on 'steady progress throughout the year in front and high schools', and support the development of Suzhou with the advancement of hundreds of towns." According to reports, such economic town exchange activities will continue to be held in July and October this year, highlighting Suzhou’s determination, confidence and intention to fight for projects and develop.