A bird's-eye view of Suzhou New District in East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/WeChat account: snd-szgxqfb]
Moreover, advanced colleges and universities in SND have brought new development impetus to the region.
Nanjing University's Suzhou Campus for instance, which has been planned for years, enrolled its first class of 500 undergraduates and 100 postgraduates this September and is expected to strengthen the total talent pool.
Suzhou Everbright Photonics Co, a leading domestic laser chip manufacturer, has also joined with the local government in establishing a semiconductor laser innovation research institute.
"The chips, though tiny, have greatly improved our daily lives. We hope the institute can help us attract global innovation resources in the field and hence build stronger industrial chains," said Min Dayong, chairman of the company.
SND is striving to become a leader in Suzhou's industrial sci-tech innovation, especially in the four emerging industries of medical apparatus, integrated circuits, software and information technology, and green and low-carbon industries.
Statistics show that from 2012 to 2021, SND's regional GDP doubled from 83.01 billion yuan to 167.58 billion yuan. It also realized 497.31 billion yuan in total fixed asset investment and 131.2 billion yuan in industrial investment in the past 10 years.
