Suzhou Industrial Park
Encyclopedia
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Industrial park
An industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development...
built in Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
with significant Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
an input. In the late 1990s, the heavy losses incurred by the park caused a minor scandal in Singapore.
Background
As ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's modernization drive gained momentum in the late 1980s, many Chinese delegations visited Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, a southeast Asian nation that achieved notable economic success within 30 years of independence. The Chinese visitors were eager to learn modern management methods, while Singapore was also planning Economic Regionalization, which focused on overseas investment.
In 1992, the idea of developing a modern industrial township with Singapore experience was broached. During his tour of southern China that year, China's late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
said: "Singapore enjoys good social order and is well managed. We should tap on their experience, and learn how to manage better than them."
After rounds of discussions and site surveys, both governments decided to join hands in developing a modern industrial park in the east of Suzhou. The China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (CS-SIP) was thus born on February 26, 1994 when Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing
Li Lanqing
Li Lanqing is a prominent Chinese politician.-Biography:He is a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China. While in government he was First Vice-Premier. In his capacity as Vice Premier, Li was responsible for national education policy...
and Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH is a Singaporean statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, governing for three decades...
signed the Agreement on the Joint Development of Suzhou Industrial Park in Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
.
SIP has a total jurisdiction area of 288 sq km, of which, the China-Singapore cooperation area covers 80 sq km with a planned residential population of 1.2 million. The China-Singapore Joint Steering Council led by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng will hold meeting every year to give directions for the development of SIP.
Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
In May 2006, Suzhou Industrial Park became the location for the first Sino-British University to be approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education when, in partnership with Xi’an Jiaotong University, the University of LiverpoolUniversity of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
opened a joint University known as the Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University is an independent university based in Suzhou, China, resulting from a partnership between the universities of Liverpool and Xi’an Jiaotong...
(XJTLU). This is an independent University, offering degree courses in Electronics, Communications, Computer Science, and Management (including Financial Mathematics and E-commerce). When fully operational, this independent university will have a student population of up to ten thousand.
Suzhou New District
The park was built near-simultaneously with the competing Suzhou New DistrictSuzhou New District
The Suzhou New District is one of the specially designated regions for technological and industrial development in China. The district covers an area of 52 km2 and is located 5 km west of Suzhou, in the Jiangsu province....
(SND) industrial park. As the Suzhou city government had only a minority (35%) stake in the SIP, while they had a major stake in SND, the city government largely ignored the SIP and concentrated on promoting the SND instead.
After incurring losses of some US$90 million over 5 years, the Singapore consortium lowered its stake to 35 percent, raising the Chinese consortium's stake to 65 percent from 35 percent and reducing the Singaporean share from a planned 70 sq.km. to just 8 sq.km. The Chinese side appointed Wang Jinhua, vice-mayor of Suzhou and the former manager of the New District, as the new chief executive. In 2001, one year after Singapore lowered its stake, the park made its first profit of $3.8 million.
See also
- Semiconductor Manufacturing International CorporationSemiconductor Manufacturing International CorporationSemiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, is a semiconductor foundry in mainland China, providing integrated circuit manufacturing services at 350 nm to 45nm technologies...
- Hejian Technology CorporationHejian Technology CorporationHejian Technology Corporation is China's second largest semiconductor foundry company after SMIC.It was founded in November 2001 and is located in Suzhou Industrial Park....
External links
- Suzhou Industrial Park Webpage
- Singapore Window: The Suzhou Saga
- XJTLU Official Site in English
- Suzhou Industrial Park Exhibition Adapting Singapore’s Experience - Commemorating the 15th anniversary of Suzhou Industrial Park, http://libguides.nl.sg/sino_singapore_sip - Singapore National Library Board (NLB), NLS Resource Guides