Liuhe town in Suzhou bathes in the afternoon sun on Nov 16, 2015. [WANG ZHUANGFEI / China Daily]

Suzhou takes pride in being the "Venice of China".

Its economic success owes much to the vision of city authorities who teamed with Singapore to establish a tech park, referred to endearingly as simply "the park".

Modern trade requires instant communication, and it is here that Hengtong International Business Group has set up operations. The company makes two vital ingredients for Big Data and the Internet of Things: coaxial cables and fiber optics.

The largest fiber-optics company in China and the second-largest in the world, behind Konig, Hengtong produces more than 40 million km of 0.125 mm cabling ever year. It accounts for approximately 50 percent of the Chinese market and 12 percent of the global market.

The key raw material for fiber optics is glass, and its furnaces can make 1,000 tons every year. It employs 10,000 people with 10 China production bases and 45 global affiliates.

In theory, one single cable could span the entire length of the Silk Road. If one did, chances are that it would be used to transmit images of a royal wedding in London and the beauty of a glowing bride adorned in Jiangsu silk.

Contact the writer through tomclifford@chinadaily.com.cn