Resource pooling to buoy trade strength
Suzhou will pool the resources of its biggest state-owned trading firms under the auspices of the city's foreign trade authority in a bid to bolster the city's trading strength internationally.
Suzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Commission chief executive Wu Siqi said the new group company would comprise six to seven trading companies dealing in goods ranging from pharmaceuticals to textiles.
'We can better compete in the international market under one banner with better resources,' he said.
The city's individual companies were fighting it out on their own, he said.
These companies tended to lose out when facing bigger and stronger multinational trading companies.
The new company has not been named and the amount of capital to be injected is undecided.
It should be almost up and running by the end of the month, but its official launch could only be in September, pending final terms and conditions to be established.
Mr Wu will head the group company, while a vice-chief executive from the commission will be general manager.
Export and import trading is at the heart of Suzhou's economic development.
Last year, foreign trade amounted to US$5.4 billion, half the total for Jiangsu province.
While the city has its own resources, officials say the standard of design and manufacturing are major problems.
An example was silk, for which Suzhou was famous. Mr Wu said designs for the city's silk products had not reached international standards and this had to be improved.
The rise of two industrial districts - the Suzhou New District and the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park - brought in new technology and know-how and had sped up economic development.
