Over the past few years, Suzhou Foreign Affairs Office has been committed to assisting by using resources in sister cities local enterprises, which are willing and financial-ready,in carrying out cooperation in fields of investment and trade with counterparts in sister cities of countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. By facilitating foreign trade and targeting mutual benefit and win-win results, it well serves central overall diplomacy and key work of the local government, successfully promotes communication and cooperation with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, and helps in creating an investment-friendly environment for Suzhou.
Recently, a request was made by a Finnish freight company for preferential policies of China-Europe freight trains, on which Suzhou Foreign Affairs Office attached great importance and made concentrated efforts. Finland is a country involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Suzhou-Helsinki freight route is well-run among China-Europe freight trains, especially during COVID-19 pandemic. It is of highly importance for companies to have a diverse range of logistics options and routes. Hence, Suzhou Foreign Affairs Office timely carried out communication, liaison and coordination, and succeeded in listing the Suzhou-Helsinki railway freight line into the "key lines", which enjoy preferential policies such as priority departure and fees reduction.
The success in helping the Finnish company’s application for preferential policies has remarkably promoted the efficiency of China-Europe freight trains between Suzhou and Finland, facilitated supply chain and logistics of Chinese and Finnish enterprises, contributed to the provincial work in the construction of the intersection of "the Belt and Road”,as well as actively implemented the office’s long-term pursuit to optimize business environment for foreign companies in Suzhou.
