
Suzhou offers model for China-Singapore cooperation
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I am writing in response to 'Will Singapore avoid Trump's tariffs but face US-China trade war 'crossfire'?' (
February 6 ).
Singapore should deepen cooperation with China on economic systems and corporate management models and not worry too much about the US-China tariff dispute.
I was born and raised in Suzhou in Jiangsu province. Although it is underrated and most Westerners don't know much about it, it is China's seventh-largest city by gross domestic product. Its unique development path and constructive partnership with Singapore provides valuable insights into how the Chinese economy has flourished over the past four decades.
Suzhou, famous for its Unesco World Heritage-listed classical Chinese gardens, has long been recognised as a leisure destination and a 'land of fish and rice'. Today, it is one of China's most influential
hi-tech manufacturing centres and a popular destination for foreign investment.
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This huge transformation began with an agreement between China and Singapore in the 1990s to launch the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), the two countries' first major joint project.
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