概 况 9 AN OVERVIEW OF THE 2019 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF SUZHOU MUNICIPALITY In 2019 the whole city followed the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, earnestly implemented the guiding principles of the Party’s 19th National Congress and the second, third and fourth plenary sessions of its 19th Central Committee, continued to follow the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, applied the new development philosophy, highlighted the work of “ensuring stability on six fronts”, and solidly promoted high- quality development. The city’s economic and social development was generally stable and the quality improved in the stability, economic quality and efficiency were continually optimized, the release of innovation momentum was accelerating, the ecological environment was steadily improved, the well-being of the people was continuously improved, and new steps had been taken and new progress made in high-quality development. 1. General survey The economic operation was stable. The city achieved a regional GDP of 1,923.58 billion yuan, an increase of 5.6% over the previous year in terms of comparable prices. Of it, the added value of the primary industry was 19.67 billion yuan, a decrease of 6.6%; that of the secondary industry was 913.02 billion yuan, an increase of 5.1%; that of the tertiary industry was 990.89 billion yuan, an increase of 6.3%. Calculated by the permanent population, the regional GDP per capita was 179,200 yuan (equivalent to 26,000 US dollars), an increase of 5.2% over the previous year. The year’s general public budget revenue reached 222.18 billion yuan, an increase of 4.8% over the previous year. Of it, the tax revenue was 199.1 billion yuan, an increase of 3.2% and accounting for 89.6% of the general public budget revenue. The year’s general public budget expenditure was 214.15 billion yuan, an increase of 9.7% over the previous year. Of it, the urban and rural public service expenditure was 168.62 billion yuan, accounting for 78.7% of the general public budget expenditure. The reform was solidly advanced. Reforms to streamline administration and delegate power, improve regulation, and upgrade services were steadily advanced, the reform of “separating permits from the business license” fully implemented, and the non-in- person approval of 95% of the application-related government services implemented. The “three mechanisms” to support the development of private enterprises were implemented. In the year there were 432,000 new market entities, reaching 1.88 million entities at the end of the year, an increase of 51.5% and 20.6% respectively over the previous year. The pilot of the integrated development of the manufacturing industries and the Internet was deepened, 9 provincial-level industrial Internet platforms and 2 characteristic bases newly built, and the construction of a national-level industrial Internet platform application innovation experience center started. Financial reforms and innovations continued to be promoted, and the smooth financing project for finance serving real economy was implemented. The Suzhou Integrated Financial Services Platform had accumulatively financed 667.8 billion yuan for 14,538 enterprises, and the establishment of the nation’s first “small and micro enterprise digital credit investigation zone” was approved. The balance of loans for inclusive small and micro enterprises and private enterprises of corporate banks increased by 26.3% and 15.2% respectively over the beginning of the year. The corporate bond work innovation and risk prevention had achieved remarkable results, and were encouraged and commended by the supervision of the State Council. The supply-side structural reform had been carried forward steadily, and in the year 1,819 low-end backward and overcapacity enterprises (workshops) were shut down, and an investment of 36.37 billion yuan in the “filling the short board” 10 BRIEF INTRODUCATION projects completed. The policies to reduce taxes and fees and the measures to reduce fees to benefit enterprises were fully implemented, and 62 billion yuan of the enterprises’ cost burden reduced in the year. 2. Agriculture and rural construction The agricultural production was generally stable. In the year the total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery was 35.66 billion yuan, down 5.7% from the previous year in terms of comparable prices. The total output of the summer grain was 216,100 tons, down 9.4% from the previous year; the total output of the autumn grain was 655,700 tons, an increase of 2.3% over the previous year; the per mu yield of the summer grain and that of the autumn grain increased by 1.9% and 2.2% respectively over the previous year. In the year the output of pork, beef, lamb and poultry was 21,500 tons, down 44.1% from the previous year; the output of eggs was 6,500 tons, down 29.7% from the previous year; the output of aquatic products was 165,300 tons, down 15.5% from the previous year. The construction of modern agriculture was accelerating. In the year there were 6,000 hectares of newly-built high-standard farmland, 2,800 hectares of newly-built modern agricultural parks, and 1,573 hectares of newly-reconstructed standardized pond area. Suzhou was selected as one of the first batch of demonstration cities that basically realized the full mechanization of major crop production throughout the country, and at the end of the year the city’s agricultural mechanization level reached 90.1%. The new-type agricultural business entities were supported, and in the year 3,073 new-type professional farmers were cultivated, 18 leading agricultural industrialization enterprises at or above the municipal level added, 28 agricultural industrialization complexes formed, and 14 shared farms added. In the year the sales revenue achieved by the leading agricultural enterprises at or above the county level was 147 billion yuan of, an increase of 5.8% over the previous year. At the end of the year there were 2,243 farmer professional cooperatives of various types and 432 family farms, and the total rural collective assets (after asset verification) were 318 billion yuan and the average annual disposable income of the villages was 9.36 million yuan. 3. Industries and the construction industry The industrial production was stable and its quality improved. In the year the total output value of the industrial enterprises above designated size was 3,352.05 billion yuan, an increase of 1.4% over the previous year, of which the top six dominant industries achieved an output value of 2,122.0 billion yuan, accounting for 63.3% of the total output value of the industries above designated size. From the perspective of economic type, the output value of the private industrial enterprises reached 1,268.15 billion yuan, an increase of 4.1% over the previous year, and the output value of the private industrial enterprises accounted for 37.8% of the total output value of the industrial enterprises above designated size, an increase of 1.8 percentage points over the previous year. 26 enterprises were shortlisted for “China’s Top 500 Private Enterprises in Manufacturing in 2019”, and the number of the finalists ranked first in the country. The output value of the foreign companies and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan industrial enterprises reached 1,998.7 billion yuan, down 0.3% from the previous year, and accounted for 59.6% of the total output value of the industrial enterprises above designated size. The advanced manufacturing industries were growing stronger. In the year the output value of the emerging manufacturing industries reached 1,800.01 billion yuan, accounting for 53.6% of the total output value of the industrial enterprises above designated size and an increase of 1.2 percentage points over the previous year. The output value of the four leading industries of new-generation information technology, biomedicine, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence accounted for 21.8% of the total output value of the industries above designated size, an increase of 6.1 percentage points over the previous year. The biopharmaceutical industrial cluster was selected into the national strategic emerging industrial cluster development project, and in the year the output value of the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry increased by 24.9% over the previous year. The output of high-tech products increased rapidly, and the output of new energy vehicles increased by 17.5% over the previous year, that of optical instruments increased by 55%, that of solar cells increased by 13.9%, and that of special equipment for environmental pollution prevention increased by 30.8%. In the year there were 5 new provincial-level smart factories and 182 new provincial- 概 况 11 level smart workshops, with a total of 8 and 444 respectively. The construction industry was developing well. In the year the total output value of the construction industry was 267.96 billion yuan, an increase of 11.1% over the previous year, of which the output value of the construction and installation projects was 266.28 billion yuan, an increase of 11.3% over the previous year. The output value of the completed projects was 182.15 billion yuan, an increase of 6.7% over the previous year, and the completion rate was 68%. In the year the construction area of the qualified construction enterprises was 123.04 million square meters, an increase of 18.1% over the previous year, of which the new construction area was 42.806 million square meters, an increase of 5.1% over the previous year. At the end of the year there were 1,308 construction companies with general contracting and professional contracting qualifications, with profits and taxes of 17.2 billion yuan, an increase of 5.8% over the previous year.