On 28 April 2025, the inaugural meeting of the Suzhou Institute of Digital and Real Economy and the first session of the Board of Governors were held. Chen Xingying, full-time vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Democratic Revolution (DRC) and chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the DRC, and Wu Qingwen, deputy secretary of the Suzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and mayor of Suzhou, attended the meeting and delivered speeches. Relevant persons in charge of the Research Department of the Central Committee of the Democratic Revolution and the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Democratic Revolution; Zhu Yidong, Vice Chairman of the Suzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Chairman of the Suzhou Municipal Committee of the Democratic Revolution, Zhang Zhengyiou, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the University, Vice President of the University, and Yu Yu, Secretary General of the Municipal Government of the People's Republic of China, participated in the meeting. The meeting was presided over by Feng Bo, Dean of the Business School of the University, and Yang Zhi Ping, former Deputy Director of the Suzhou People's Congress Standing Committee, successively.

The Suzhou Institute of Digital Economy is jointly established by the Central Committee of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, Suzhou Municipal People's Government and Soochow University as a strategic cooperation council, which coordinates and makes decisions on major issues of the Institute, and conducts research on major issues related to the ‘solid promotion of new-type industrialisation, accelerating the construction of a strong manufacturing country, a strong quality country, a strong network country, and a strong digital China, promoting the in-depth fusion of digital economy and the real economy, and creating a digital industry cluster with international competitiveness’. The conference considered and passed the ‘Suzhou Digital Industry Cluster’, which is a major issue in the ‘new industrialisation’.

The meeting considered and passed the ‘Suzhou Digital Economy Research Institute (Draft)’ and other rules and regulations, elected the chairman and vice chairman of the Institute, and passed the appointment of the president, executive vice president and business vice president. Zhang Guiping, President of the Entrepreneurs' Friendship Association of the Central Committee of the Democratic Revolution and Chairman of Suning Global Group, was elected as the Chairman of the Institute, and also appointed as the President of the Suzhou Institute of Digital Economy. Qu Xiaoxia, former full-time vice-chairman of the Suzhou Municipal Committee of the Democratic Revolution, and Zhang Bin, a professor at the Business School of Soochow University, were appointed executive vice president and business vice president of the Institute, respectively.

Zhang Zhengbiao said, as the supporting unit of Suzhou Institute of Digital and Real Economy, Soochow University will give full play to the advantages of a comprehensive university, relying on the strength of advantageous disciplines, help the Institute to continuously carry out theoretical research and practical innovation, collaborate to promote the construction of think tanks, and provide high-level intellectual support to promote the in-depth integration of the digital and real economy, and boost the high-quality development of the economy. It is expected that under the joint efforts of all of us, the Suzhou Institute of Digital and Real Economy will be able to achieve landmark research results and make new and greater contributions to the promotion of Chinese-style modernisation.

Feng Bo said, as the core force of the university to participate in the construction of the institute, Soochow University Business School will give full play to its disciplinary characteristics and resource advantages, set up a research centre for digital economy and industrial innovation, focus on the strategic planning of digital-realistic convergence, the digital transformation of enterprises, and other key issues to carry out applied research; set up a collaborative innovation platform for the government, industry, academia and research; rely on the alumni resource network; and build up a ‘government, industry, academia, research and application’ platform. It has set up the ‘government, industry, academia, research and application’ collaborative innovation platform, relying on the alumni resource network, to promote the transformation of research results into industrial practice; it has participated in the series of activities of ‘Cross-Strait Emerging Design Competition - Huacan Prize’, and has made its own contribution to promoting the exchange and integration of cross-strait youths and exchange and cooperation between cross-strait colleges.

In the future, Soochow University will continue to deepen the strategic cooperation with the Central Committee of the Democratic Revolutionary Party and the Suzhou Municipal Government, take Suzhou Digital Economy Research Institute as a link, give full play to the role of the business school as a bridge to promote the accurate docking of academic resources and industrial demand, and continue to contribute wisdom and strength to the construction of Suzhou as a world-leading ‘City of Intelligent Manufacturing’ to show its ‘wisdom and strength’ in the service of the national strategy of digital economy. In the service of the national digital economy strategy, it shows the responsibility of ‘double first-class’ construction universities.