Suzhou, China

Suzhou 苏州市
Prefecture-level city
Landmarks of Suzhou — top left: Humble Administrator's Garden; top right: Yunyan Pagoda in Tiger Hill; middle: Skyline of Jinji Lake; bottom left: Changmen Gate in night; bottom right: Shantang Canal
Flag
Location in Jiangsu
Suzhou Location in China
Coordinates: 31°18′N 120°36′E / 31.300°N 120.600°E / 31.300; 120.600Coordinates: 31°18′N 120°36′E / 31.300°N 120.600°E / 31.300; 120.600
Country	China
Province	Jiangsu
County-level divisions	11
Established	514 BC
Government
• Type	Prefecture-level city
• Party Secretary	Zhou Naixiang
• Mayor	Qu Futian
Area
• Prefecture-level city	8,488.42 km2 (3,277.40 sq mi)
• Land	6,093.92 km2 (2,352.88 sq mi)
• Water	2,394.50 km2 (924.52 sq mi)
• Urban	2,743 km2 (1,059 sq mi)
Population (2013)
• Prefecture-level city	10,578,700
• Density	1,200/km2 (3,200/sq mi)
• Urban	5,468,300
• Urban density	2,000/km2 (5,200/sq mi)
Demonym(s)
Time zone	Beijing Time (UTC+8)
Postal code	215000
Area code(s)	512
GDP (2014)	Total CNY 1.406 trillion USD $228.87 billion PPP $330.48 billion Per capita CNY 132,908 USD $21,635 PPP $31,240 Growth: 8%
HDI (2015)	0.894 - very high
City flower	Osmanthus
City tree	Camphor laurel
Regional dialect	Wu: Suzhou dialect
License plate prefix	苏E
Website	www.suzhou.gov.cn

Suzhou
"Suzhou" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese	苏州
Traditional Chinese	蘇州
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sūzhōu Wade–Giles Su1-chou1 IPA [sú.ʈʂóu] Wu Suzhounese Sou-tseü Hakka Romanization Sû-chû Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sōu-jāu IPA [sóu̯.tsɐ́u̯] Jyutping Sou1-zau1 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Soo-ciŭ

CNY 1.406 trillion
USD $228.87 billion
PPP $330.48 billion

CNY 132,908
USD $21,635
PPP $31,240

Suzhou, formerly romanized as Soochow, is a major city located in southeastern Jiangsu Province of East China, about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Shanghai. It is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce, and the second largest city in the province after the capital Nanjing. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the shores of Lake Tai and belongs to the Yangtze River Delta region. Administratively, Suzhou is a prefecture-level city with a population of 4.33 million in its city proper, and a total resident population (as of 2013^[update]) of 10.58 million in its administrative area. Its urban population grew at an unprecedented rate of 6.5% between 2000 and 2014, which is the highest among cities with more than 5 million people.

Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou has over 2,500 years of history, with an abundant display of relics and sites of historical interest. Around AD 100, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, it became one of the ten largest cities in the world mostly due to emigration from Northern China. Since the 10th-century Song Dynasty, it has been an important commercial center of China. During the Ming and Qing Dynasty, Suzhou was a national economic, cultural, and commercial center, as well as the largest non-capital city in the world, until the 1860 Taiping Rebellion. When Li Hongzhang and Charles George Gordon recaptured the city three years later, Shanghai had already taken its predominant place in the nation. Since major economic reforms began in 1978, Suzhou has become one of the fastest growing major cities in the world, with GDP growth rates of about 14% in the past 35 years. With high life expectancy and per capita incomes, Suzhou's Human Development Index ratings is roughly comparable to a moderately developed country, making it one of the most highly developed and prosperous cities in China.