Stabilizing the "ballast stone" and composing a good "concerto" - On the new starting point, the integrated development strategy of the Yangtze River Delta is moving towards a new stage of development | Reform and Opening up | Yangtze River Delta

The 2023 Yangtze River Delta Major Leaders Symposium will be held in Hefei, Anhui from June 5th to 6th.The three provinces and one city have held such a symposium for the fifth consecutive year since 2019. The theme of this year's conference is "Hand in hand with high-quality integration and forge ahead with Chinese path to modernization".

In recent years, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui have focused on the two key words of integration and high quality, adhered to the principle of promoting the strengths of each institute and jointly developing the board, accelerated the formation of a new development pattern, bravely acted as the "pacesetter" of high-quality development, accelerated the creation of a new highland of reform and opening up, and worked together to create a strong and active growth pole for China's development. A new picture of Chinese path to modernization of the Yangtze River Delta is emerging.

Pinyin at the forefront: accelerating high-quality economic development

In early summer, on BYD Avenue in Xiatang Town, Changfeng County, Hefei City, trucks with license plates from the Yangtze River Delta region lined up in a long line, gradually entering the BYD Hefei base to transport automotive parts... "With the help of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and the drive of leading enterprises such as BYD, the new energy vehicle industry in Hefei has accelerated, and the production in the first four months of this year has increased by about four times year-on-year," said Xu Bin, director of the Hefei Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology.

On June 30, 2022, the complete vehicle offline ceremony of BYD Hefei Base Project was held in Xiatang Town, Changfeng County, Hefei City, Anhui Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Duan

This is a microcosm of the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry in the Yangtze River Delta. Three provinces and one city are aiming to build world-class industrial clusters, focusing on energy conservation and new energy vehicles, robots, new power equipment, new displays and other industrial chains. They are implementing the action of supplementing and strengthening the supply chain, strengthening policy coordination, and supporting the integration and innovation of large, medium, and small enterprises driven by leading enterprises as "chain owners".

On May 18th, the second phase of the production base for SKF tapered roller bearings and cylindrical roller bearings, a leading global rolling bearing manufacturing enterprise, was put into operation in Changshan, Zhejiang. Shi Bo, Vice President of SKF China, said that in the Yangtze River Delta region, SKF can form a closed loop in all aspects from suppliers to customers, from raw material production to logistics.

The second phase project of SKF tapered roller bearings and cylindrical roller bearings production base, a global leading rolling bearing manufacturing enterprise located in Changshan, Zhejiang. Shen Jizhong

The project aims to increase speed and produce full horsepower. In the Dongtai Economic Development Zone of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, the equipment manufacturing base of Dongfulong Technology Group Co., Ltd., headquartered in Shanghai, has completed and put into operation the first phase of the food equipment project, and the total investment of the second phase of the biopharmaceutical equipment project is 1 billion yuan, and construction is being accelerated.

Pinyin is the top priority, work together. The 2023 Shanghai Global Investment Promotion Conference was recently held in Shanghai, with 26 major projects signed on-site and a total investment of 67.4 billion yuan. Among them, Xindi Digital, founded in Hangzhou, is expected to invest 2.5 billion yuan to build a national headquarters operation center and research and development center in Minhang District, Shanghai. "Talents are the most attractive factor to us," said Ye Xiuzi, Chairman of Xindi Digital. The company has already launched talent attraction activities and negotiated cooperation projects in Shanghai.

At the 2023 Shanghai Global Investment Promotion Conference held on April 6th, a batch of major industrial projects were signed on site. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Gong Wen

Infrastructure interconnectivity is also accelerating. Taking cross regional major projects as the driving force, the three provinces and one city will accelerate the construction of world-class port and airport clusters in the Yangtze River Delta, supporting and ensuring integrated development. The overall pattern of the port cluster, with Shanghai and Ningbo Zhoushan Port as the core, Nanjing, Hangzhou and other 16 ports as the backbone, and other ports jointly developing, has basically formed. Last year, the container throughput of the Yangtze River Delta ports accounted for about 38% of the national proportion. The cargo and mail throughput of major airports accounts for approximately 35%.

Since 2018, the GDP of the three provinces and one city has remained at around 24% of the national total. In the first quarter of this year, the GDP growth rate of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui remained stable, showing a good development trend of sustained economic recovery and recovery.

"With the continuous promotion of integration, the infrastructure connectivity network of the Yangtze River Delta is becoming increasingly dense, transportation is becoming more convenient, and industrial cooperation is increasing, injecting strong momentum into high-quality development and helping to accelerate the formation of a new regional development pattern." Kong Linggang, Counselor of the Anhui Provincial People's Government and Director of the Institute of Urban and Rural Economics of the Anhui Academy of Social Sciences, said.

Breaking a New Path: The Rise of a New Highland of Reform and Opening up

The Yangtze River Delta Ecological Green Integration Development Demonstration Zone, the Yangtze River Delta G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, and the Xin'anjiang Qiandao Lake Ecological Protection Compensation Pilot Zone... In this hot land of reform and opening up, these "experimental fields" cultivated by the three provinces and one city work together to increase collaborative innovation and exploration efforts, continuously adding new momentum to integrated development, and continuously amplifying the demonstration effect and driving role.

This is a photo taken on November 16, 2019 at the Xin'anjiang Landscape Gallery in Anhui Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Duan

"From 2019 to 2022, a total of 112 institutional innovation achievements were launched, 38 were replicated and promoted, and 108 key projects were focused on promoting, forming an important support for high-quality development." Zhang Zhongwei, Deputy Director of the Executive Committee of the Yangtze River Delta Ecological Green Integration Development Demonstration Zone, introduced.

The birthplace of institutional innovation and the strong magnetic field of attracting foreign investment. Standing at the International Container Terminal in Zhujiaqiao Port Area of Wuhu Port, one can only see berthing ships loaded with containers ready to depart, gazing into the sky of the Yangtze River, with a hundred ships competing for a thousand sails. In the Wuhu area of the China Pilot Free Trade Zone, the new model of shared cabin management for the Yangtze River branch transportation route has brought new changes.

On August 19, 2022, at the International Container Terminal in Zhujiaqiao Port Area of Wuhu Port, Anhui Province, neatly arranged cars waited for export. Shen Jizhong

"We have created the 'Wuhu Yangshan Shared Cabin and Single Point Docking Route', with 6 branch line operators jointly investing in ship capacity, sharing cabin space, and providing open booking transportation services to the public. We operate between Wuhu Port and Shanghai Yangshan Port according to fixed schedules, benefiting enterprises, shipping companies, and ports. This reform has also been selected as the second batch of institutional innovation cases in the 2022 Yangtze River Delta Pilot Free Trade Zone." Shu Shunquan, Assistant General Manager of Wuhu Port Co., Ltd., said that since the operation of the shared cabin route, the efficiency of ship operations has significantly improved, the loading rate of ships has increased by more than 30 percentage points, and the optimization and integration effect of route resources has been highlighted, fully releasing Wuhu Port and Yangshan Port. Dock resources.

The construction of the pilot free trade zone started in Shanghai in 2013, and currently the Yangtze River Delta has achieved full coverage of the pilot free trade zone. Taking the China Pilot Free Trade Zone as an example, last year the zone accounted for less than one thousandth of the province's area, contributing a quarter of the province's import and export volume and one-third of the actual use of foreign investment, achieving an import and export volume of 186.19 billion yuan, an increase of 26%. Over the past two years, 124 institutional innovation achievements have been explored and formed.

The new Lingang area of the China Free Trade Zone, captured on March 14, 2023. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fang Zhe

Provide high-level technological supply to support high-quality development across the country. The Ministry of Science and Technology and three provinces and one city jointly establish the Yangtze River Delta Science and Technology Innovation Community Construction Office and operate it in a physical manner; The Yangtze River Delta technology resource sharing service platform has gathered over 40000 large scientific instruments; Establishing and operating the Yangtze River Delta National Technology Innovation Center... With the expansion of cooperation breadth and depth, the construction of the Yangtze River Delta collaborative innovation system is accelerating.

Promote the strengths of "active and strong innovation" and focus on accelerating the efficient aggregation of innovative elements. Anhui Province takes national laboratories, large scientific facilities, China Science and Technology Fair, and the "Silicon Valley of the University of Science and Technology" as major focus points to jointly strengthen the national strategic scientific and technological strength, promote breakthroughs in "bottleneck" technologies, and jointly promote the transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements. As the first pilot province for the construction of innovative provinces in China, Jiangsu focuses on the fundamental scientific fields that may generate transformative technologies in the future and continues to strengthen its strategic scientific and technological strength layout.

Building an international first-class business environment and providing high-level services to business entities. Three provinces and one city have established a unified and open market system by accelerating the unification of market rules and regulations, and coordinating the cross regional integration of government services. Xiao Aoshuang, Vice President of Dyson Trading Co., Ltd. in Greater China, stated that the business environment in China is continuously improving, especially in optimizing the rule of law business environment and deepening inclusive and prudent supervision, which reflects the "temperature" of regulation and gives foreign enterprises the confidence to establish long-term roots in China.

Joint Governance and Sharing: Enhancing People's Sense of Gain

Eight hundred miles away, Chaohu Lake is vast and picturesque. On the shore, 55 year old fisherman Wang Shihe is patrolling the lake. He, from Linhe Town, Feidong County, Hefei City, used to be a fisherman. After retiring from fishing, he became a fisherman and protected the ecology of Chaohu Lake.

"It turns out that during summer, there is an outbreak of blue-green algae in Chaohu Lake, with a foul odor everywhere." Speaking of the changes in Chaohu Lake, Wang Shihe said with deep emotion, "In recent years, the ecology has improved, blue-green algae have noticeably decreased, and there are also more fish in the water."

This is a photo taken on August 5, 2022, of Chaohu Lake Wetland located in Baohe District, Hefei City. Shen Jizhong

As one of the five major freshwater lakes in China, Chaohu Lake transports approximately 4 billion cubic meters of water to the Yangtze River every year, making it an important ecological barrier in the Yangtze River Delta region. Promote the integrated protection and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands, and sands; Innovate the implementation of a joint conference system for cross-border rivers; Building a "Digital Chaohu" platform... Through continuous comprehensive management, the water quality of Chaohu has achieved a historic improvement, and the average water quality of the entire lake has shifted from Class V in 2015 to Class IV or above, making it the "best business card" of Hefei.

A good ecological environment is the most equitable public good and the most inclusive welfare for people's livelihoods.

As the source of the Huangpu River and the birthplace of the concept of "green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as gold and silver", Anji County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province has initiated the establishment of the Huangpu River Source Ecological Protection Fund, working together with various regions to release the "Anji Consensus on Huangpu River Ecological Environment Protection", aiming to form a cross regional ecological protection compensation mechanism with global influence.

"We will strengthen resource operation, accounting application, digital transformation empowerment, and standard formulation, promote efficient value transformation, improve ecological protection mechanisms, promote efficient management and operation, and deepen regional cooperation research," said Shen Qiang, Director of the Anji County Development and Reform Bureau.

We will adhere to joint efforts to protect the Yangtze River and prevent large-scale development, increase pollution control from ships and ports on the Yangtze River, complete shore power transformation, and jointly carry out a ten-year fishing ban; Implementing household waste classification management and jointly promoting cross provincial transfer supervision of hazardous waste... The three provinces and one city have always adhered to ecological priority and green development, and made new breakthroughs in promoting ecological and environmental protection and joint governance.

Accelerating the promotion of convenient sharing of public services has brought tangible sense of gain to the people.

"Now you can first seek medical treatment and then deduct fees. After authorizing the cooperating bank and conducting a credit evaluation, you can obtain a credit limit, and the personal self funded portion will be automatically deducted without queuing up to pay fees on site." At Suzhou Yongding Hospital in Wujiang District, Suzhou, patient Xu Chenting attempted the cross regional "credit+medical" digital service of the Yangtze River Delta integrated demonstration zone when seeking medical treatment across regions.

On May 25, 2023, at Yongding Hospital in Suzhou, Jiangsu, staff gave an introduction to the medical community. Shen Jizhong

Three provinces and one city are exploring the promotion of direct settlement of outpatient expenses for cross provincial medical treatment. As of the end of last year, it has covered more than 15000 medical institutions in 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta, with a total settlement of more than 13 million people and nearly 3.6 billion yuan in medical expenses involved; Collaborative legislation supports the establishment of a "one card" for resident services using social security cards as carriers. The "one code access" for rail transit has achieved convenient scanning of QR codes for passengers in 10 cities in the Yangtze River Delta, with a total of nearly 15 million passengers traveling from other places

The river and sea are surging, setting sail for a long journey. From a new starting point, the three provinces and one city will adhere to innovation and co construction, coordination and progress, green and mutual protection, openness and win-win, and people's livelihood sharing. We will work hard to promote the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and continue to achieve new results, and strive to hand over the excellent "Yangtze River Delta answer sheet" of Chinese path to modernization.

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