Jack Wu, 48-year-old president of Jim Brothers, based in the Lihu Science and Industrial Innovation Park, one of five industrial parks in the Binhu district of the city, says people now enjoy an almost Western lifestyle in the city.

Jack Wu, president of Jim Brothers. Hu Haiyan / China Daily

His company, which employs 118, is an e-commerce business that makes bespoke shirts. Customers just need to send an emailed image of themselves from which their precise measurements can be calculated.

"Living and working here is certainly better than China's major cities. There is less pollution, the environment is better and property costs are probably 30 percent lower than in Beijing, whereas income levels over the past three or five years have been actually higher than in the capital."

The city's main shopping malls, where there are designer brands and Western coffee shops such as Starbucks everywhere, certainly suggest a comfortable middle class lifestyle that would not be out of place in Europe or the United States.

Although the city remains very Chinese - with few foreigners in evidence - one indication that Wuxi is now on the map in consumer terms was Apple opening its 12th store in the Chinese mainland at the Center 66 mall in the city on Aug 2.

Li Jinsong, general manager at the Phoenix Arts Group, which runs one of Wuxi's largest art galleries, says wealth levels in the city have hit such a level that people are looking around for what to spend money on. Some of his collector clients spend up to $1 million on paintings.

"There is a group of people who have bought a home, they have a car, they own stocks and they are looking for something else to buy so they buy art," he says.

Whether Wuxi is an example of where China is heading by 2020 is a matter of debate.