As the summer heat lingers, Suzhou showcases a thriving atmosphere of innovation across its industrial landscape. A leading optical communications company shines in the capital market, innovative pharmaceutical firms accelerate their global expansion, and a formidable robot force debuts on the world stage, highlighting the city's dynamic embodied intelligence sector. These diverse advancements paint a clear picture of Suzhou's industrial strength: a solid foundation built on large-scale clusters, combined with the ambition to pioneer new frontiers.

In March, Suzhou was selected as one of the first national demonstration zones for new-type industrialization, the only city in the province to receive this honor. From January to July, the city's total industrial output from large-scale enterprises reached 2.92 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.1 percent, with added value growing by 9.4 percent. Suzhou is accelerating its journey toward becoming a globally competitive "Smart Manufacturing City."

Harnessing the "AI+" Multiplier Effect

Inside the world's first "Lighthouse Factory" for optical communications, production equipment operates at full capacity. With the explosive growth of the artificial intelligence industry, order backlogs are reportedly already extending into 2027. Suzhou's foray into smart manufacturing is built on early planning and deep expertise. The city was the first in the province to achieve full coverage of intelligent transformation and digital networking among its large-scale industrial enterprises. It has established nine "Lighthouse Factories," 81 national-level 5G factories, and 10 national-level excellent smart factories, creating a multi-tiered and large-scale smart manufacturing ecosystem.

Embracing the new wave of technology, Suzhou is actively integrating AI to drive the transition from old to new growth engines and propel its manufacturing sector toward intelligence and innovation. Early this year, the city convened a conference on advancing new-type industrialization and "AI+ Manufacturing" development, issuing a 2026 action plan. This plan introduced eight major special actions, including enhancing industrial competitiveness and accelerating AI empowerment of manufacturing.

Following this call, various districts have sprung into action. The Suzhou Industrial Park has implemented six major initiatives and 26 key tasks to foster the integrated development of AI and manufacturing. Kunshan is strengthening factor supply and scenario cultivation, while Taicang is providing targeted digital transformation solutions, offering free AI transformation diagnostics to large-scale enterprises with the goal of full coverage within two years.

Enterprises are also increasing their investments. In a smart cockpit developed by a local AI firm, three tasks—turning on the air conditioner, activating seat ventilation, and playing music—are completed almost simultaneously after a voice command. The company's CEO emphasizes that mastering AI tools is key to staying ahead. By embedding AI into real-world scenarios like automotive, home, and industrial manufacturing, the firm has registered ten large models and anticipates 50 percent revenue growth by 2026. Another company has deployed 40 AI-enabled scenarios across over 30 production lines. Its information technology head notes that leveraging an AI-driven industrial internet platform has reduced product costs by 16 percent and defect rates by 44 percent.

Since the beginning of this year, Suzhou has seen 15 new AI application cases recognized by the ministry, was selected for the first batch of "millisecond computing" pilot areas, and hosted the first national high-quality dataset laboratory for the industrial manufacturing sector.

Forging a Green Competitive Advantage

At a major industrial automation company's plant, a smart energy management platform displays real-time data on water, electricity, and gas consumption. The company's green transformation initially faced challenges common to older facilities: low solar power generation, substandard equipment energy efficiency, and fragmented energy management. However, the company took a different approach, using digital technology at its core to enhance energy conservation, reduce carbon emissions, and boost overall operational efficiency through process optimization, technical upgrades, and lean management. This factory was recognized as a national-level green factory in March.

Green has become a defining characteristic of Suzhou's manufacturing. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, energy consumption per unit of added value for large-scale industries dropped by 23.1 percent. The city has cumulatively achieved 188 national-level green factories, 12 green industrial parks, and 588 provincial-level green factories. In the Suzhou Industrial Park's Circular Economy Industrial Park, industrial sludge and municipal sewage are collected and treated. Dried sludge is sent to a power plant for electricity generation, with the steam produced being returned to the system for further use, and treated water is recycled for production cooling and flushing. This collaborative operation converts industrial waste into usable resources, with the comprehensive utilization rate of bulk industrial solid waste reaching 98.1 percent.

Suzhou continues to adjust its industrial structure, focusing on both green industry transformation and the growth of green industries themselves. This dual approach aims to accelerate the shift in growth drivers and enhance development quality through industrial "green content." Recently, a company independently developed a hydrogen-powered drone that successfully completed a test flight. This drone, which integrates hydrogen fuel cell technology with unmanned aircraft, overcomes the endurance limitations of lithium-powered models, achieving over 120 minutes of flight time, four to five times longer than traditional battery-powered drones.

A Harmonious Symphony of "Two-industry Integration"

A plan to expand and upgrade the service sector, released in June, sets a target for the city's service industry added value to approach 2 trillion yuan by 2030. The plan provides supportive measures for nine key directions in producer services, including software and information services, AI services, inspection and testing, and new trade services. Suzhou has gathered 160,000 industrial enterprises, including 14,700 above designated size, forming three trillion-yuan and eleven hundred-billion-yuan industrial clusters and housing six national advanced manufacturing clusters.

This strong manufacturing base provides rich application scenarios for the development of producer services. In turn, the thriving service sector offers solid support for the growth of the manufacturing industry. In April, Suzhou was selected as a pilot city for the integrated development of advanced manufacturing and modern services, gaining approval for an "Metering and Inspection and Testing" pilot program. Inspection and testing services serve as a key entry point for Suzhou to promote this "two-industry integration." The city is upgrading its one-stop testing platforms for emerging industries like integrated circuits, biomedicine, and intelligent connected new energy vehicles, launching over 100 testing and inspection service projects.

The integration goes beyond simply planning producer services around advanced manufacturing; it also drives the transformation of production-oriented manufacturers into service-oriented ones. A company originally focused on automotive wiring harnesses is now actively expanding into embodied intelligent robot business, aiming to become an ecosystem builder. Another company, leveraging its core technology in high-speed motors, is not only solidifying its main business in smart home appliances but also entering the automotive components sector. Throughout Suzhou, companies are continually transforming to seize new development opportunities. With the government building platforms and enterprises showcasing their talents, the path of "two-industry integration" is becoming increasingly stable and broad.