Number of “Trillion-Yuan Cities” in the Yangtze River Delta Region Increases to 9, Accounting for Over One-Third of the National Total

On December 4, a press conference themed “Promoting High-Quality Development” was held. Gu Jun, Director of the Yangtze River Delta Regional Cooperation Office, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government, and Director of the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, introduced the progress made by the three provinces and one city in implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech one year after the Symposium on Deepening the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta was held.

On November 30, 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the Symposium on Deepening the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta in Shanghai and delivered an important speech. Over the past year, the three provinces and one city have thoroughly studied and understood the strategic thinking, rich connotations, and significant meaning of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech. They have formulated and implemented the third round of the Three-Year Action Plan for the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta Region and jointly promoted 18 key cooperation items and accelerated the implementation of 10 practical projects for integrated development in the Yangtze River Delta.

In terms of total economic output, the economic aggregate of the three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta has increased from 23.9% of the national total in 2018 to 24.4% in 2023, with a growth rate of 5.4% in the first three quarters of this year, which is 0.6 percentage points higher than the national average. The number of “trillion-yuan cities” in the Yangtze River Delta has increased from 6 in 2018 to 9, accounting for more than one-third of the national total. In terms of quality, the intensity of R&D expenditure in the Yangtze River Delta has risen from 2.81% in 2018 to 3.34% in 2023. In the 2024 Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking of the top 100 scientific and technological clusters globally, the Shanghai-Suzhou cluster ranks fifth, and the Nanjing cluster ranks ninth, entering the top ten for the first time. These achievements reflect the resilience, vitality, and responsibility of the Yangtze River Delta regional economy as a “growth pole, power source, and test field.”

Firstly, efforts are focused on cultivating and developing new productive forces, strengthening cross-regional collaboration in scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. The capacity for scientific and technological innovation origination continues to be strengthened. Collaboration between the Zhangjiang and Hefei Comprehensive National Science Centers is being deepened, and the joint research plan for the Yangtze River Delta Science and Technology Innovation Community is being accelerated. The third batch of 41 demand task lists has been released externally, and the first 12 Yangtze River Delta Innovation Consortia have been established. The open sharing of scientific and technological resources is accelerating. The Yangtze River Delta Science and Technology Resource Sharing Service Platform has aggregated 46,441 large-scale scientific instruments, and the Yangtze River Delta Science and Technology Innovation Voucher has supported enterprises in purchasing innovation services over 7,000 times, with support amounting to over 170 million yuan. Scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation are accelerating integration. A joint new energy vehicle industry chain system in the Yangtze River Delta is being established, and joint efforts are being made to promote the development of the Internet of Vehicles and intelligent and connected vehicles. Currently, 4 out of every 10 new energy vehicles produced in China come from the Yangtze River Delta region.

Secondly, efforts are focused on the institutional guarantee for integrated development, accelerating the improvement of the integrated development system and mechanism. The convenient and shared public services are being promoted in an orderly manner. More than 170 high-frequency government services and applications have achieved cross-provincial “one-network, one-stop” processing. This year, innovative initiatives such as the “one thing” service for newborn births in the Yangtze River Delta and the “automatic enjoyment without application” subsidy for financially disadvantaged students studying across provinces have been introduced. The Yangtze River Delta has taken the lead in piloting direct settlement of outpatient medical expenses for cross-provincial medical treatment nationwide, with over 46 million people benefiting and reducing public out-of-pocket expenses by over 7 billion yuan by the end of October this year. The level of infrastructure interconnection and interoperability continues to improve. The “super ring” high-speed rail in the Yangtze River Delta has been opened, with the operating mileage of high-speed rail in the region exceeding 7,600 kilometers, an increase of over 80% compared to 4,150 kilometers in 2018. The 163-kilometer Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed rail will be ready for operation by the end of the year, shortening the travel time from Shanghai to Huzhou from about 2 hours to around 40 minutes. The airport connection line between Hongqiao International Airport and Pudong International Airport will also be operational this year, with a total length of 68.6 kilometers and a fastest connection time of just 40 minutes between the two airports, significantly reducing the travel time between cities in the Yangtze River Delta. The construction of a “one-network” for new energy vehicle charging and swapping infrastructure is accelerating, with over 120,000 public charging stations built annually and a vehicle-to-charger ratio of 1.55, achieving the annual target of below 1.9 ahead of schedule. The construction of the Demonstration Zone for Ecological and Green Integrated Development in the Yangtze River Delta is being deepened. This year, 18 institutional innovation achievements have been introduced, and the “Regulations on the High-Quality Development of the Demonstration Zone” were officially implemented on May 1, becoming the first comprehensive, cross-provincial, and creative legislative project in China since the revision of the “Legislation Law.” The Huawei R&D Center has been completed and put into use, and the construction of the Xicen Science and Innovation Center, the Water Town Living Room, and the Shanghai-Suzhou-Jiaxing Intercity Railway is being accelerated.

Thirdly, efforts are focused on building a strategic hub for the dual-circulation paradigm and actively promoting high-level collaborative opening up. High-level opening-up platforms are being accelerated. The comprehensive reform pilot in Pudong New Area is being accelerated, with the release of the country’s first batch of general data lists for cross-border data scenarios. The strategy to upgrade the Free Trade Pilot Zone is being deeply implemented, and the construction of the Oriental Hub International Business Cooperation Zone has been initiated. The Three-Year Action Plan (2024-2026) for the construction of the Hongqiao International Opening-Up Hub has been issued and implemented. The seventh China International Import Expo saw a cumulative intention to trade of 80 billion USD, an increase of 2% compared to the previous session. The Yangtze River Delta High-Quality Development Promotion Association for the “Belt and Road” Initiative has been established. Positive progress has been made in the integrated development of the regional market. Joint efforts have been made to release and implement key work measures to promote the integrated development of the regional market in the near term, promote the improvement of regional logistics efficiency and cost reduction, and introduce over 30 specific measures. The first regional local standard for food safety information traceability in China has been released and implemented, and a total of 27 regional local standards have been jointly released.

Fourthly, efforts are focused on jointly building a green and beautiful Yangtze River Delta and strengthening joint environmental protection and governance. Collaborative efforts are made to protect important ecological spaces and ecosystems. The three provinces and one city have jointly formulated the “Regional Greenway Connection Standards,” the first cross-provincial standard for greenway construction in China, and are collaboratively promoting the construction of ecological corridors along the Yangtze River water system. It is expected that the provincial connection of ecological corridors along the main stream of the Yangtze River in the Yangtze River Delta will be preliminarily achieved by 2025. Efforts to prevent and control pollution are continuously being advanced. From January to October this year, the average proportion of days with good air quality in the Yangtze River Delta reached 83.3%, an increase of 8.2 percentage points compared to the same period in 2018. The average concentration of PM2.5 was 30 micrograms per cubic meter, a significant reduction from 42 micrograms per cubic meter in the same period in 2018. Exploration is underway to jointly address regional ozone pollution, and collaborative efforts are being made to tackle the comprehensive pollution control of the near-shore waters of the Yangtze River Estuary-Hangzhou Bay. Joint river and lake chiefs have been fully implemented for key cross-border water bodies such as the “one river and three lakes” in the integrated demonstration zone, and a “whitelist” system for the utilization and disposal of solid and hazardous waste has been implemented. Efforts are being made to enhance the momentum for green and low-carbon development. Pilot projects for cross-regional emissions trading have been launched in Qingpu, Shanghai, Wujiang, Jiangsu, Jiashan, Zhejiang, and Guangde, Anhui. The national carbon trading market is operating smoothly, with a cumulative trading volume of carbon emission quotas exceeding 494 million tons and a cumulative trading volume exceeding 29.7 billion yuan by the end of October.

Fifthly, efforts are focused on building a risk prevention and control system and enhancing safe development capabilities. Collaborative reforms and innovations in the financial sector are being accelerated