SM Lee Hsien Loong at the Suzhou Industrial Park 30th Anniversary Commemorative Event

中华人民共和国国务院副总理何立峰阁下
尊敬的来宾
女士们、先生们，

大家下午好！

1994年，中-新苏州工业园区于5月12日破土启动。

今天，我很高兴和各位在这里齐聚一堂，一同庆祝园区的开发建设30周年。

这是一个值得庆祝的里程碑。苏州工业园区在这30年内所取得的成功，反映了两国这些年来的成长，更是让我们看到了新中合作如何随着彼此的发展开枝散叶。

中国与新加坡的团队，无论是政府单位或是私人企业，大家都在目标一致的前提下同心协力、不断寻求突破、精益求精，共同打造了高品质、 充满活力的工业园区。

有了大家的付出和贡献，我们才有今天的成就。在此，我祝贺我们的中方伙伴们、商界同仁们、以及这些年来参与项目的新朋友和老朋友，苏州工业园区三十周年快乐！希望各位再接再厉，再创辉煌。

接下来，请让我用英语发言。

SIP: From modest beginnings

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

30 years ago, Singapore and China launched the SIP. This was our first Government-to-Government (G-to-G) 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 – 可借鉴、可复制、可推广的项目. 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.

SIP: Personal reflections

I was personally involved in the early years of the project. I had the honour of co-chairing the first seven SIP Joint Steering Council (JSC) meetings with then-Vice Premier Li Lanqing, and subsequently then-Vice Premier Wu Yi. Together we developed the concept, settled the strategic direction, secured the necessary approvals, and got the project moving. Along the way, we had some differences in perspectives and approach, but these were part of our collective learning journey. Both sides worked together in good faith and resolved these differences through close consultations and mutual adjustments. After the first few years, the Chinese side increasingly took the lead, eventually becoming the senior partner. They carried the project forward with energy and imagination and built SIP up way beyond what we had dared to hope.

When I visited the SIP on its 10th anniversary in 2004, I was deeply impressed by how well it had developed. Low-lying farmland had been transformed into a beautiful and well-managed township, with thriving industries, excellent infrastructure, a high-quality living environment, and a growing, thriving population.

Now in its 30th year, the SIP continues to thrive. It now occupies 278 km², extending well beyond the Singapore-China collaborative area of 80 km2. It is consistently ranked as one of China’s most competitive industrial parks. Its GDP has grown ten-fold, from about RMB 40 billion in 2003 to almost RMB 400 billion in 2023. The SIP has also catalysed Suzhou’s economic growth, making Suzhou the sixth largest city in China by GDP last year.

Earlier, I had a chance to tour the SIP, and see what it had matured into. Seeing how our initial concepts and dreams had become a living, vibrant reality filled me with pride and joy. We stopped by a viewpoint to admire the industrial park. From there, we could see the SIP stretching around 金鸡湖, extending in all directions. In particular, we could see the entire central axis – leading through the township all the way to the Suzhou Center and the Gate of the Orient, 东方之门, fronting onto the lake. I remembered the first Joint Steering Council meeting in Singapore in 1994, when both sides discussed the master plan for the township, sitting around a scale model of the SIP. The planners highlighted to us this central axis, which then-Vice Premier Li Lanqing described as the torch (or 火炬). We talked about how one day this axis would become the bustling core of a modern township. Today this central thoroughfare is fully built, surrounded by the modern buildings of the SIP – graceful, well laid out precincts, full of life and activity. The torch is shining brightly. From master plan to reality: 一张蓝图绘到底. And for this, we have to thank the generations of officials on both sides, the companies who participated in the project, the businesspeople who believed in it and pushed it, and all of the teams who worked together to make this a reality and a success. Thank you all very much.

Throughout the years, the SIP has kept itself relevant and competitive by moving up the value chain into higher tech, higher value-adding industries, such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and AI. 从无到有、从有到优 . Beyond manufacturing, SIP has also attracted many research centres. Including two collaborative projects with Singapore entities: the A*STAR Partners’ Centre and the National University of Singapore (Suzhou) Research Institute, which both renewed their agreements in the SIP this year. But for all the progress we have made, I am glad to see that the SIP still produces some traditional products – for example, the best hairy crabs in China still come from the SIP, 阳澄湖, and should therefore be counted among SIP’s high-quality, high value-added exports!

SIP: a pathfinder for cooperation

The SIP has greatly benefitted both our countries. For China, it has become a model for a high-quality investment ecosystem that attracts foreign investments. It has become a household name in China – 远近闻名. Officials from across China have come to see and study Suzhou’s success. They have taken inspiration from SIP, to adapt and apply similar ideas in their own cities and provinces. On Singapore’s part, the SIP gave us a stake in a major project in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta, a key node of China’s transformation and development. It enabled us to participate deeply in China’s journey of reform and opening up – 深度参与中国的改革开放进程. It showed how we had worked closely with China on a major project and seen it through to fruition. It earned us international credibility. It also helped build up our reputation all over China, opening many doors for us. Many Singapore companies have invested in China. They have been welcomed and have generally done well. We have also learned much from each other over the years. We shared with China our experience from our own development journey – the importance of planning and execution, and the crucial need to build and maintain the trust of international partners, clients, and investors. At the same time, Singapore learnt from China the challenges of operating at scale, and dealing with the complexity of developing a project in an economy that was still in transition. These achievements are captured in the commemorative SIP 30 sculpture “飞翔” on the banks of the金鸡湖, which symbolises success, friendship, and win-win cooperation.

Beyond its intrinsic value, the SIP has catalysed the broader Singapore-China partnership. The SIP Joint Steering Council led to the creation of the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), which is the apex bilateral platform coordinating the multi-dimensional cooperation between Singapore and China today. The JCBC is now co-chaired by Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang and DPM Gan Kim Yong. Two weeks ago, they met in Singapore, and marked the Council’s 20th anniversary with a substantial slate of deliverables. SIP’s success gave our governments the confidence to launch further joint G-to-G projects – the Tianjin Eco-City (TEC), and the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative (CCI). These have helped our two countries to grow alongside each other, understand each other better, and work more closely together for mutual benefit.

Through the SIP, we have not only built a very successful township, but also developed a deep and strong friendship, underpinned by mutual trust and understanding. SIP did not become a success overnight. It took unremitting effort from thousands of leaders, officials, and businessmen on both sides, working closely to understand problems, come up with creative solutions, forge consensus and move the project forward. On this 30th anniversary, we recognise them, and extend our heartfelt appreciation for everyone’s hard work and contributions. Thank you very much!

Challenges ahead

After nearly half a century of rapid progress, China is facing very different challenges from when it first started its journey of reform and opening up. For domestic reasons alone, China’s growth will likely be slower than before. This is to be expected as the economy is now more mature, and incomes many times higher. The population has peaked, constraining the size and composition of its workforce. There are also some structural issues in the economy that the Chinese government is actively tackling. For an example, the oversupply in the property market, and the management of local government debt, and the need to boost domestic consumption. At the same time, China’s external environment has become more complicated. Geopolitical tensions have made conditions everywhere much less conducive to growth than before. Cross-border trade and investments are particularly affected. This affects China too. Because its economy relies on a stable global multilateral framework, as well as trade and investments with partners all round the world. Facing these external pressures and uncertainties, China has placed more emphasis on political, social, and national security considerations. Economic development is still of high importance, but it is no longer the pre-eminent national priority. Policy trade-offs are unavoidable and will imply less exuberant growth for China.

Confidence in China

But it would be short-sighted and unwise to write off China. China’s development is an enterprise that will take a century – 百年大计. China has shown that it can take a strategic perspective – to maintain consistent policies and direction over the long term, riding through transient ups and downs in its development journey. Its economy retains considerable capacity to grow. There is still untapped potential in its workforce. As people stay healthy longer, and remain active and work longer, this will boost the workforce. As the population continues to urbanise, and shift from the rural agricultural sector to the urban manufacturing or service economy, productivity should go up. China’s tech industry is also highly competitive and advanced. Chinese companies are already market leaders in some industries, for example Electric Vehicles, batteries, and solar panels. Increasingly, Chinese companies are competing as equals, rather than from a catch-up position. In fact, in some industries Chinese companies have been so successful that it is causing concern to China’s trading partners. Finally, we must never underestimate the Chinese people’s determination for their nation to succeed and stand tall in the world. This is a driving ambition. Its impact cannot be captured in economic statistics, but it will make all the difference.

Singapore continues to have confidence in China’s future. We believe that a growing and prospering China can and should play a major constructive role internationally – contributing to the prosperity and well-being of other countries, and a stable international order where all countries big and small co-exist peacefully together. Therefore, we wish China well in its efforts to transform its economy, integrate into the global economy, and enhance win-win relations with regional partners and other major powers.

Singapore remains committed to deepening our bilateral cooperation with China. And our cooperation in the SIP will continue to be a significant part of this. Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and China’s Ministry of Commerce have developed a 10-year cooperation blueprint to chart the next phase of our cooperation in the SIP. We plan to grow emerging sectors like green development, the digital economy, and biomedical sciences. Upcoming projects such as the China-Singapore Green Digital Hub and the China-Singapore Life Sciences Park will help the SIP to stay relevant and attract high-quality investments both from China and beyond. More broadly, as the SIP continues to develop under the blueprint, it will continue to demonstrate how China can deliver high standards of economic and urban management and sustain a high-quality modern township over the long term. SIP’s model will be a reference and inspiration for other tech and industrial parks across the country. It will also demonstrate China’s continuing openness to the world and its desire to welcome investors. In an era of uncertainty and anxiety, it will be a beacon of cooperation and hope.

Conclusion

Last year, Singapore and China upgraded our bilateral relationship to an “All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership” (全方位,高质量的前瞻性伙伴关系). We can be proud that we have built a successful “All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented” industrial park here in Suzhou to match.

As we commemorate the SIP’s 30th anniversary, may I again congratulate it on reaching this important milestone. 新中携手，苏州开启，三十而立，再创新机. With the continued wise guidance and full support from leaders from both sides, the hard work of our officials and the zest of our businesses, I am confident that the SIP will continue to be a pathfinder (探路者) for bilateral cooperation, to achieve greater successes for the next 30 years and beyond!

Thank you very much.