A conference to promote producer services was held in Suzhou, on July 18, with 20 key projects worth 87 billion yuan ($12.44 billion) signed on site, covering advanced fields such as 5G infrastructure, new energy, cloud computing, and big data, giving impetus to the integrated development of producer services and the city’s manufacturing sector.

To promote the innovative development of producer services industries, two preferential policies focused on enterprises and high-caliber skilled workers, as well as 10 related initiatives, were also announced by local authorities at the conference.

At present, producer services industries are one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, with some developed countries such as the United States and Germany putting them at the heart of the development of the manufacturing sector. Since the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, the added value of producer services in Suzhou has grown by an average annual rate of 8.1 percent, 1.4 percentage points faster than GDP growth in the same period.

Twenty-eight local enterprises are designated as the first group of leading producer services companies in Suzhou, on July 18. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]