Take a drive through the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) and you will see what appears to be a model industrial estate: cleanly laid out roads interspersed with green parks and endless rows of factories humming with activity. There is none of the chaotic, thrown-together feel of so many Chinese industrial parks; the atmosphere is almost serene. Talk to the managers of these factories and you will hear nothing but praise for the managers of the park. Even the biggest problems – the rapidly rising cost of land, the shortage of workers – are indications of success. Surprisingly, and despite these outward appearances, the SIP was, until recently, viewed by many as a grave disappointment.

The SIP was not supposed to be just another industrial park in China: it was a grand experiment. The idea was to transplant the strengths of the Singaporean model – effective bureaucratic management, world-class infrastructure and a stable business environment – to China through government co-operation. The park was a joint venture between a foreign consortium directed by the Singaporean government and a Chinese consortium consisting of local governments and centrally-controlled, state-owned enterprises. From the perspective of the Chinese government, the hope was that the SIP would provide a model of effective governance for the rest of the country at the same time as it served as an engine of growth in the Jiangsu region. From the perspective of the Singaporean government, the SIP was partly an attempt to capitalize upon its strength in management in a location with far lower costs, and partly an attempt to demonstrate the relevance of the Singaporean “model” in a Chinese context. The stakes were high for both parties.