Suzhou Industrial Park: A pathfinder for Singapore-China cooperation

In his address at the Suzhou Industrial Park on Nov 25, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong traced the remarkable 30-year journey of the bilateral project. The text of his address follows.

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I am very happy to be back in Suzhou today, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP).

Thirty years ago, Singapore and China launched the SIP. This was our first government-to-government project. At that time, China's journey of reform and opening up was just gathering pace.

The story traces back to 1978, when Mr Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore. After seeing what Singapore had done, Mr Deng felt that China could adapt elements of Singapore's development experience to its own reform and development journey. Years later, during his 1992 Southern Tour, Mr Deng reiterated this message. On Singapore's part, Mr Lee Kuan Yew was likewise keen to see how we could support China's development. Mr Lee happened to visit Suzhou in 1992 and saw its potential role in China's reform and development.

With this meeting of minds and shared political will, China and Singapore established the SIP in 1994. The aim was to develop a high-quality industrial township in China, to be a vehicle to adapt Singapore's experience of economic development, investment promotion, and urban planning to China's national circumstances. This would offer China a useful possible model as it pursued its reforms and opening up. And it also allowed Singapore to better understand China's industries, market, and economy, as it opened up to the world.

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