Shanghai pushes integrated development in YRD region

The Yangtze River Delta has been playing a more prominent role in China's economic and social development since the region implemented a national strategy for further integration in 2018, officials told a press conference on Wednesday.

The total economic output of Shanghai and its three neighboring provinces, which make up the region, accounted for 24.4 percent of the country's overall gross domestic product in 2023, rising from 23.9 percent in 2018.

The region's GDP in the first three quarters of this year also grew 5.4 percent, 0.6 percentage points higher than that of the nationwide figure.

Gu Jun, director of the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission and director of the Executive Committee for Yangtze River Delta Regional Integration Development Office, said that "more has been done to enhance regional logistics efficiency, market coordination and ecological governance in the past year."

With joint efforts, nine cities in the region now boast an annual GDP of over 1 trillion yuan (US$137.4 billion), compared with six in 2018, and they make up one third of such cities across the country.

These results also came from improved market synergies linked by convenient traffic, as the length of operational high-speed railways has increased by 80 percent since 2018 to 7,600 kilometers last year.

Higher rankings and a better environment

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, the region's Shanghai–Suzhou cluster claims 5th position in the latest global top 100 science and technology clusters ranking, while the Nanjing cluster is 9th.

"This shows further vitality in the sci-tech field and strong innovation capabilities in key cities in the area," Gu said.

Meanwhile, an industry of intelligent networked vehicles has taken shape in the region, producing four out of every 10 new-energy vehicles made in China.

Besides, joint efforts are made to improve the environment. In the first 10 months of this year, the number of days with good or excellent air quality reached 83.3 percent, adding 8.2 percentage points from that of 2018.

More initiatives will be put into effect to enhance integrated development in Shanghai and its neighbouring provinces, and 17 special task force groups are currently working to drive further synergies in the region.

Eighteen policy innovations promoting integrated development of the region to drive high-quality development have been released since the beginning of this year, Gu said.

The integration of the Yangtze River Delta region, which covers an area with a population of 240 million, is a national strategy initiated by President Xi Jinping in 2018. Xi carried out an inspection tour in Shanghai in November, 2023 to further elevate the coordinated efforts.

Key cooperations in the region are expected to include strengthening cross-regional cooperation in innovation, providing more high-level scientific and technological supplies, and accelerating the formation of new-quality productive forces, Gu said.