Austrian Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner visited Suzhou on October 23, accompanied by the city's vice mayor Xu Ming. Mitterlehner was impressed by the two-hour visit and said he was surprised to see such a good investment environment in Suzhou.

The Austrian officials toured Miba Precision Components (China) in Suzhou Industrial Park, a company founded in 2007 by the Austria-headquartered leading producer of precision components for motor vehicles, trains, ships, and aircrafts. Its sales recorded 610 million euros in 2013. "The investors in Suzhou are fishes," explained the local manager to the visiting guests. "Being it small fish or big fish, the city will treat you well and help you grow and sustain."

There are at present over 50 businesses invested by Austrian companies, including Voestalpine Profilform, AHT, and Alpla, with total investment of 170 million US dollars. Austrian investors opened three new businesses in Suzhou in 2014 with the actual FDI (foreign direct investment) increasing by 322% over the previous year and amounting to 23.72 million dollars.

Mitterlehner said he was very proud to see so many Austrian enterprises in Suzhou and hoped to see more win-win cooperation in future.