Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits the exhibition center of the Suzhou Industrial Park in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, July 5, 2023. Xi inspected the city of Suzhou from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

NANJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspected the city of Suzhou in east China's Jiangsu Province from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning.

Xi visited the Suzhou Industrial Park during the inspection tour.

Renowned for its exquisite gardens and architectural beauty, Suzhou is not only a city steeped in history and culture but also home to the Suzhou Industrial Park, an important intergovernmental cooperation project between China and Singapore and a hotbed of innovation and openness.

In 2012, around 18 years after the industrial park was established, Li Xiaomin embarked on a trip there for the first time, aiming to find a new base for his booming business.

Li founded Wintech Nano in Singapore in 2004. He described his business as a "hospital for chips," which aims to detect failures or potential problems in design so as to improve the quality of chips.

From Li's perspective, Suzhou Industrial Park is not only the right place for businesses to thrive but also a model of China's opening up.

"The industrial park vigorously promotes scientific innovation and supports technological startups, which increasingly attracts talent from overseas. It is a showcase of China's progress in promoting international cooperation," said Li, currently the chairman and general manager of Wintech Nano (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.

Li is among a number of global entrepreneurs who seek business opportunities in the industrial park that spans 278 square km in Suzhou City, which is about half an hour away from the country's financial hub Shanghai by high-speed train.

Suzhou Industrial Park leverages scientific and technological innovation as a catalyst to propel high-quality development. It boasts an array of industries, such as next-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, emerging industries and modern services.

In the first half of this year, its expenditure on R&D accounted for 5.01 percent of the industrial park's total GDP. The number of valid invention patents per 10,000 people reached 171.8.

The industrial park is also a testament to the continuous deepening of China's reform and opening up. Over the past 29 years, the actual utilization of foreign investment has exceeded 40 billion U.S. dollars, with a total of 104 Fortune Global 500 companies investing in 174 projects there.