Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat is in Suzhou to co-chair the 11th Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council (SJCC) meeting with Jiangsu Governor Wu Zhenglong today.

Mr Heng's five-day visit to China will also take him to Beijing.

Yesterday, he held a meeting with new Jiangsu party secretary Lou Qinjian, who was appointed to the post last month to take over from Mr Li Qiang. Mr Li became Shanghai party boss following the 19th Party Congress.

During their hour-long meeting, they discussed areas of cooperation, such as on the Belt and Road Initiative where Jiangsu is a key node, and ways for both sides to help companies go international.

Today's SJCC meeting, co-organised by IE Singapore, will review cooperation initiatives in the past year, and discuss new areas of collaboration in the coming year, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement yesterday.

More than 65 business representatives from over 35 Singapore firms will be part of the SJCC meeting.

Mr Heng will also launch the NUS Enterprise's Block71 Suzhou, a hub for start-ups located in Suzhou Industrial Park. This will be the first Block71 development in China by the National University of Singapore's entrepreneurial arm.

The minister will then travel to Beijing to attend the IE Singapore-CapitaLand Tech & Innovation Summit, where he will launch the Global Innovation Alliance (Beijing). The summit seeks to provide a platform for start-ups' technology to achieve practical application in real-life scenarios.

While in Beijing, Mr Heng will visit Tsinghua University and deliver an address outlining his views about Singapore's relations with China to students there. He will also call on senior Chinese officials, and visit ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing.

Mr Heng is accompanied by Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National Development Koh Poh Koon, as well as officials from the ministries of Finance, Education, and Trade and Industry, as well as from IE Singapore.