Named one of China’s Top 10 Livable Cities, China’s Top 10 Charming Cities, China’s National Landscape Garden Cities and International Garden Cities, Suzhou enjoys temperate climate, beautiful scenery as well as convenient modern services and facilities.

In recent years, it has increasingly become the destination of choice for organising conferences and exhibitions, as the transport, lodging, foodservice, tourism and commercial facilities have all been upgraded.

The city is home to six professional exhibition venues and four professional conference centres. Suzhou ranks third in China in terms of the number of five-star hotels, the city is well positioned to meet the needs of any number of high-end exhibitions, conferences and other events. In addition, the government has taken action to create a good environment for the conference and exhibition industry by putting in place a series of favourable policies and supporting facilities.

There are more than 60 well-preserved classical gardens, of which nine have been awarded World Cultural Heritage status and represent the highest level of traditional Chinese gardening and landscaping.

In recent years, the Suzhou government has divided the city into a core central district and four surrounding towns by applying a holistic approach to urban planning. The well-preserved downtown area shoulders the responsibility for maintaining the historic culture, while the four new towns help promote the development of secondary and tertiary industries. Suzhou has been able to strike a balance between economic development and preservation of its heritage while, at the same time, remaining a liveable, dynamic and distinctive city.

Transportation in and out of Suzhou is very convenient. It is only 20 minutes from Shanghai via high-speed railway and a five-hour trip by different forms of transport from Beijing and Guangzhou, as well as cities in Japan and South Korea.