Suzhou Customs data released on June 16, 2026 showed that the monthly import and export volume in May was 357.23 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 59.4%. This growth rate set a new record since February 2010, which was 3.5 times the national average growth rate of 16.9% during the same period, ranking among the top among major foreign trade cities in the country.
In the first five months of this year, Suzhou’s total foreign trade import and export value reached 1.48 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 37.5%, accounting for 7.2% of the country’s total foreign trade and 52.2% of Jiangsu Province’s.
The two main lines driving this growth are clearly visible.
The first is the restructuring of the trade map, with emerging markets contributing 70% of the increase.
Starting this year, Suzhou’s trade share with countries co-building the “Belt and Road” has exceeded 50% for the first time.
In the first five months, the import and export of this sector reached 778.86 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 64.4%, accounting for 52.6% of the city’s foreign trade, an increase of 8.6 percentage points from the same period last year.
In May alone, Suzhou’s imports and exports to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative increased by 90.9%, contributing more than 70% of the city’s foreign trade increase that month.
Although ASEAN and the EU have maintained the stability of traditional markets with growth rates of 51% and 21.4% respectively, the explosive growth of emerging markets is the core engine driving the rise of the foreign trade curve.
Within Suzhou, Suzhou Industrial Park has performed outstandingly. In the first five months, the park’s total import and export value of goods trade was 659.09 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 110.1%, accounting for 44.5% of Suzhou’s city’s foreign trade.
Its imports and exports to other countries jointly building the “Belt and Road” increased by 171.4%, and its imports and exports to other RCEP member states increased by 170.8%.
The park’s monthly import and export in May was 179.5 billion yuan, an increase of 170.7%, setting a new monthly record for the 10th consecutive month.
The second is the qualitative change in the role of foreign capital, from “production workshop” to “regional headquarters”.
Foreign-invested enterprises are still the “ballast stone” of Suzhou’s foreign trade. In the first five months, the city’s foreign-invested enterprises imported and exported 877.75 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.3%, accounting for 59.3% of the city’s foreign trade.
In Suzhou Industrial Park, this role is even more important. The import and export of foreign-invested enterprises was 483.78 billion yuan, an increase of 107.3%, accounting for 73.4% of the total foreign trade value of the park during the same period.
Lu Zhe, chief economist of Soochow Securities, analyzed that Suzhou is a typical example of China’s export structure upgrade, with high-end manufacturing exports leading the country.
Wujiang Development Zone has gathered nearly 600 foreign-funded companies. For example, Italian company Italian Valve (Suzhou) Valve Co., Ltd. launched a capital increase and production expansion plan in 2025 nearly 20 years after its establishment; the CMS Computer Parts capital increase project only took 3 working days from the land use planning certificate to the construction permit.
The doubling of processing trade and bonded logistics also provides evidence of this upgrade at the supply chain level.
In the first five months, Suzhou’s processing trade import and export volume was 706.14 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 57.4%; the Suzhou Industrial Park’s processing trade import and export volume increased by 138.3%, and the import and export of bonded logistics goods increased by 135.4%.
In terms of industry, Suzhou’s “Three New Products” maintain strong momentum on the export side.
In the first five months, the export of lithium batteries was 12.77 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 87.5%; the export of photovoltaic products was 4.24 billion yuan, an increase of 109.6%.
Exports of electrical equipment, household appliances, and printed circuits also increased by 26%, 14.7%, and 33.7% respectively.
Import data shows that in the first five months, Suzhou imported 481.48 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, a year-on-year increase of 65.9%, of which the import of electronic components increased by 107.9%.
The precise positioning of industries has transformed Suzhou’s overseas structure from “large and comprehensive” to “refined and deep”.
The person in charge of the Suzhou Customs Comprehensive Business Division said that since the beginning of this year, Suzhou’s monthly import and export values have hit new highs. The customs will continue to optimize the port business environment and accurately support enterprises to enjoy policy dividends.
However, the monthly growth rate of 59.4% is based on the explosive growth of 90.9% in the same month for countries jointly building the “Belt and Road”. The sustainability of this rapid growth depends on the stability of emerging market demand and the continuity of geopolitics.
Suzhou’s shift from “world factory” to “global partner” is still in progress.
