The Jiangsu Provincial Government has recently approved Suqian as a historical and cultural city of the province.

Suqian has a history of over 2,700 years and is the hometown of Xiang Yu, King of the Western Chu Kingdom (206-202 BC). Suqian is also the only city in China that has the main channel of the Grand Canal in three different historical periods. In addition, it is one of the birthplaces of China's glass industry and home to the well-known liquor brands — Yanghe and Shuanggou.

The latest statistics show that the city now has one World Heritage Site, two provincial-level historical and cultural towns, and 14 provincial-level traditional villages. There are also two national industrial heritage sites, one important agricultural cultural heritage site of China, and six provincial-level water conservancy engineering heritage sites.