What's so hard about this? , the construction of a cross-provincial road at the junction of Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang has been brewing for several years.

On May 30, in the Yangtze River Delta Green Ecological Integration Demonstration Zone, the east extension project of Pugang Road officially started. The total length of this road is only 2.3 kilometers, but the construction of the project has been brewing for several years.

What's so hard about building a road? This road starts from Wujiang, Jiangsu Province in the west and connects Qingpu-Shanghai Qingping Highway in Shanghai in the east. Building roads across provincial boundaries is not complicated. The demonstration area has opened up a number of dead roads in the past few years. But this time, this transportation project also undertakes an important task - to continue to practice and optimize version 2.0 of the integrated approval model.

Looking back, the Yuandang Bridge on Donghang Road, completed at the end of September 2020, is the first inter-provincial dead end road opened after the establishment of the Yangtze River Delta Integration Demonstration Zone. Half of them were in Shanghai, and the other half were in Jiangsu. At that time, the materials required for approval of cross-border bridge construction and road construction were complicated, and even the approval authority could not be found. After coordinating all parties, Suzhou City entrusted Shanghai City to review and approve this route. Materials were submitted in accordance with the best standards. The administrative approval permit was stamped with two stamps from Shanghai and Suzhou. This explores version 1.0 of integrated approval.

It is still entrusted with construction and joint approval. When the Pugang Road East Extension Project was submitted for approval, the "administrative division code" of the demonstration zone investment project was clearly 310052 - 310 is the zoning code of Shanghai, and 052 is the department code of the National Development and Reform Commission. , combined together, means that cross-domain projects in the demonstration area no longer need to be applied for separately by the three places, and only "one set of documents and one chapter" is required to achieve integrated approval.

Upgrades and renewals can be found everywhere in today’s Yangtze River Delta. Numbers are the most intuitive way of expression: In 2023, the GDP of the three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta exceeded 30 trillion yuan for the first time, supporting more than 24% of the total economic output with less than 4% of the land area.

In November 2018, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta was elevated to a national strategy and has now entered its “second five years”. After natural growth and self-evolution, the accumulation of “quantity” will eventually lead to a “qualitative” breakthrough. Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui are ready to open a new chapter in integrated construction and create a new situation in high-quality development.

On November 17, Yuandang Bridge was completed and opened to traffic. When residents drive from Qingpu Jinze to Wujiang District, Suzhou on the other side of the river, the detour is shortened from the previous 40 minutes to five minutes.

How much time does it take to visit Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui? The answer was surprising: just one day.

1 month ago, this may be a limited answer. The junction of Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang is at the Taipu River. A quadrangle-shaped square hall water courtyard is built across the river. The four corners are respectively equipped with theme exhibition spaces for Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui, and are connected by three pedestrian bridges. The Fangting Water Garden is expected to be completed in May next year. If you walk around it, you can "walk through Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in a quarter of an hour, and visit Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui in one day."

Just a few days ago, the Yangtze River Delta Railway announced the addition of a new super loop high-speed railway. The "one-day" answer has come true in the broader Yangtze River Delta land. This ring line starts from Shanghai Station, passes through Suzhou, Changzhou, Nanjing, Hefei, Huangshan, Hangzhou and Jiaxing, connects Huangshan Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, Qiandao Lake and other scenic spots, and ends at Shanghai Hongqiao Station. The whole journey takes 8 hours. The tickets went on sale on June 1, the first day the train started running, and all the tickets were sold out.

This is not the first "circle" of the Yangtze River Delta high-speed rail. As early as 2020, the first high-speed rail loop line in the Yangtze River Delta has been "operational", passing through the He'an High-speed Railway, Hefu High-speed Railway, and Ning'an High-speed Railway, but it is limited to Anhui Province. On April 26 this year, the Chi-Huang high-speed railway opened for operation, completing the "last link" for this newly opened super loop line and breaking through provincial restrictions for the first time. The Shanghai-Suzhou-Lake high-speed railway that will be opened this year, the Jiangsu-Jianyong railway under construction, and the future Yantai-Xixi-Changyi railway will draw a new "high-speed rail circle around Taihu Lake."

The benefits generated by the railway "network" are far greater than those of the railway "lines", and they can better exert the "multiplier effect". Each "high-speed rail circle" forms a stronger connection between the three provinces and one city.

Transportation connections bring location advantages, which turn into development advantages. For example, Xuancheng, Anhui Province, is located in the southeast of Anhui Province, but if it is placed on the Yangtze River Delta map, it is located in the strategic center of the Yangtze River Delta and is located in the geographical center of the Yangtze River Delta. After the opening of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed rail, the high-speed rail journey from Xuancheng to the four central cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Hanghe is basically about one hour.

Another example is Wenzhou, Zhejiang. Among the cities in the Yangtze River Delta, Wenzhou is the farthest from Shanghai. After the Hangzhou-Wenzhou high-speed railway is put into operation, the journey from Wenzhou to Shanghai will be compressed to 2 hours. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 600,000 Wenzhou residents in Shanghai. Entrepreneurial life. The shortened travel time will greatly shorten the spatial, psychological and living distance between Wenzhou and the core cities in the Yangtze River Delta.

The "high-speed rail circle" is connected to the "urban area". Nearly six years ago, a research team from the Shanghai Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau and the Shanghai Branch of the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design drew a circle on the map, including Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Nantong, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Zhoushan, Changzhou, Huzhou and other cities. In this circle, which was later called the "Shanghai Metropolitan Area," economic ties spontaneously formed between regions across administrative boundaries and under the influence of market forces. Once the transportation conditions are in place, Xuancheng is actively promoting the entire region to join the Shanghai metropolitan area.

"Drawing a circle" is actually to "break the circle" for the better. The Nanjing metropolitan area spans the two provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui, and is clearly jointly built by Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. The Hangzhou metropolitan area also radiates to Huangshan, Anhui, Shangrao, Jiangxi and other places. Metropolitan areas break the restrictions brought by provincial administrative boundaries and form typical agglomeration effects and circle-breaking effects.

Recently, planning system leaders from 14 cities in the Yangtze River Delta conducted a "brainstorming" in Shanghai - as the country's first cross-provincial metropolitan area land and space planning, the Shanghai metropolitan area's land and space master plan is about to emerge. Today, when economic factors are fully mobile and connected, the 14 cities have long been "same as hot and cold". All parties at all levels are thinking beyond provincial boundaries and putting their respective blueprints together into a coherent vision.

On June 5, 2024, the two main piers of the Chongqi Highway-Railway Yangtze River Bridge entered the tower column construction.

Recently, the No. 3 and 4 main piers of the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chongqing High-speed Railway Chongqi Highway-Rail Yangtze River Bridge completed the concrete pouring of the tower base and pre-cast section, marking that the two main piers of the Chongqing-Chongqing Highway-Rail Yangtze River Bridge have fully entered the tower column construction stage.

Return to Shanghai Hongqiao Station, the end point of the Yangtze River Delta Super Ring Line. "If you go to the Hongqiao Business District and see why so many R&D institutions and innovation centers from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui are located in Shanghai?" Wang Zhen, deputy president of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, asked.

In fact, he already had the answer, "Because we have the conditions, technology and the market have changed a lot." Wang Zhen's tone was determined. In the current Yangtze River Delta, transportation and logistics are convenient, the business environment is similar, information technology is sufficiently developed, industrial chains can be spatially separated, and element resources can easily flow to more suitable places.

Private entrepreneurs are always the most sensitive people in the market. As early as 2003, the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government made the decision to "actively connect with Shanghai and actively participate in the cooperation and development of the Yangtze River Delta." Nan Cunhui, chairman of Chint Group, was one of the first entrepreneurs to respond to the call.

"How can companies be encouraged to develop in other places?" Nan Cunhui didn't understand it at first, but he soon went to Shanghai, Jiaxing and other places to seek opportunities to "connect with the standards." Leveraging this shareholder style, Chint has since then comprehensively deployed Wenzhou smart electrical appliance manufacturing base, Hangzhou new energy automation and information technology R&D and manufacturing base, Jiaxing power electronics and photovoltaic cell component smart factory, Shanghai high-voltage power transmission and transformation equipment and high-end equipment R&D and manufacturing bases and other advanced manufacturing fields.

Nan Cunhui's approach is typical. Each place has its own strengths in development. Several long boards are gathered together to assemble a "barrel" with a larger capacity. The industrial connections in the Yangtze River Delta also began to take shape. In recent years, the way of industrial connection has also been upgraded, and precise filling of positions has become a new expectation. If we trace the starting point of the story, it may be June 5, 2020. On this day, the founding meeting of the Yangtze River Delta Entrepreneurs Alliance was held in Huzhou, Zhejiang, with Nan Cunhui serving as the rotating chairman of the alliance.

After the results conference that day, Nan Cunhui asked the entrepreneurs present not to leave yet, and he convened the first presidium meeting temporarily. Nan Cunhui believes that a more efficient way of cooperation should be explored. "Industrial chain alliances may not have been possible 20 years ago, but now it is a matter of course and it is time."

The upgrade was brewing. In May 2021, in Wuxi, Jiangsu, the Yangtze River Delta artificial intelligence industry chain was unveiled. Xu Jiajia, vice president of iFlytek Co., Ltd., was at the meeting. He proposed, "The top priority for accelerating the development of the artificial intelligence industry in the Yangtze River Delta is to extend and solidify the chain." So far, Xu Jiajia still adheres to this judgment.

The extended chain is about expanding upstream and downstream, and the solid chain is about supporting enterprises with "chain master" status to connect and consolidate various nodes in series. Members of the Yangtze River Delta Artificial Intelligence Industry Chain Alliance include university research institutions such as Zhejiang University, industry associations such as the Jiangsu Artificial Intelligence Association, and leading artificial intelligence companies such as Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. Such luxurious configuration is in line with the development needs of the artificial intelligence industry for chain extension and chain consolidation.

If the Yangtze River Delta Entrepreneur Alliance is the "pioneer", then the Industrial Chain Alliance is a sharp knife in the hands of the "pioneer". In addition, entrepreneurs on WeChat have gradually become old friends, and their circle of friends has been expanding year after year. 14 industry chain alliances have been established in three batches.

In the past two years, the Yangtze River Delta industrial chain has added another way to find friends. Enterprises “come up with questions”, the government “selects questions”, and the market “answers questions”. "Uncovering the list and taking charge" allows the most cutting-edge innovation needs to be directly connected with practical solutions.

On the Yangtze River Delta Integrated Science and Technology Innovation Cloud Platform, Shanghai biopharmaceutical company Henlius once released a technical requirement, eager to improve R&D and production efficiency and reduce production costs through green manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing. The market waits for no one, and technological innovation races against time. East China University of Science and Technology and Bailinke Pharmaceutical Equipment Technology Co., Ltd. successfully "unveiled the list", and the three parties jointly tackled the development and industrialization of key technologies for domestic manufacturing of bioantibody drugs. "Looking for technology yourself is like finding a needle in a haystack. With the help of the platform, we can efficiently and accurately connect with the Yangtze River Delta's 'circle of friends'." said Shan Yongqiang, general manager of Henlius Global Innovation Center.

The industrial connection model is upgraded, the friend circle expansion method is innovative, old friends join hands with new friends, and the Yangtze River Delta's new productivity is developing steadily. In January this year, data released by relevant agencies showed that the Yangtze River Delta’s industries were becoming more and more “new” – the industrial scale of integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence accounted for 3/5, 1/3, and 1/1 of the country’s total respectively. 3. There are over 270 companies listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, accounting for 48% of the country’s total.

On December 1, 2023, the busy Hongqiao comprehensive transportation hub will be operational.

In the five years since the implementation of the Yangtze River Delta integration strategy, the "Yangtze River Delta on Track" has led the country: the density of high-speed rail in the Yangtze River Delta is 4.2 times that of the country, the operating mileage exceeds 6,600 kilometers, accounting for one-sixth of the country's share, and the mileage of high-speed rail under construction exceeds 3,100 kilometers.

Not long ago, a reporter had an exclusive interview with Wu Xinming, secretary of the Nantong Municipal Party Committee. During the interview, Wu Xinming immediately started talking when it came to co-building the Yangtze Estuary Industrial Innovation Collaborative Zone.

When the reporter met Wu Xinming, he had just returned to Nantong from Nanjing. On the morning of the same day, the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government held the sixth plenary meeting of the Leading Group for Promoting the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta, at which Wu Xinming made an exchange speech. He revealed that this meeting clearly regarded the study and formulation of the Yangtze River Estuary Industrial Innovation Collaborative Zone construction plan as an annual task to further promote the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.

The Yangtze Estuary Industrial Innovation Collaborative Zone is built in the adjacent areas of Nantong, Suzhou and Shanghai. Nantong hopes to strengthen cooperation with neighboring cities for mutual benefit and win-win results. Cross-domain co-construction projects mean the sharing of results and risks, which inevitably involves the issue of benefit distribution. It is difficult to find precedents for related solutions nationwide.

Wu Xinming thought of his work experience in Suzhou, especially his longest stay in Fenhu High-tech Industrial Development Zone, which lasted for eight and a half years. It was one of the first start-up areas of the Yangtze River Delta Integration Demonstration Zone. The demonstration area is a test field for reform. He got inspiration from the practices in the demonstration area. To be more precise, the inspiration came from a number of cross-provincial joint construction projects such as the Fangting Water Institute and the Pugang Road East Extension Project.

The Pugang Road East Extension Project not only has a special "identity card", but the project investors and construction entities also have great backgrounds. In May 2021, the Yangtze River Delta Integrated Demonstration Zone New Development Construction Co., Ltd. was officially established. The company is funded by two provinces and one city in the same proportion, with the same shares and rights. The company's chairman, chief supervisor, and financial director adopt a "rotation" model, and the operation and management team is recruited and established in a market-oriented manner. It is entrusted by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province. Supervised by Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

Through the participation of this subject who is born with integration genes, the mechanism of fiscal and tax sharing, capital investment, and cost sharing is gradually taking shape in the demonstration area. For example, the implementation plan for cross-regional fiscal and tax sharing in the demonstration area was released, and in accordance with the principles of "incremental start, capital ties, factor sharing, and dynamic adjustment", it clarified fiscal and tax sharing in the development and construction of waterside living rooms, cross-regional collaborative investment promotion, and cross-regional enterprise relocation. path.

It is the task of the Yangtze River Delta Integration Demonstration Zone to be the first to experiment, reform and innovate, and it is also the mission of the Yangtze River Delta Integrated Development. The demonstration zone has launched 136 institutional innovations, 42 of which have been replicated and promoted nationwide. These institutional innovations cover ecological co-protection and joint governance, smooth flow of elements, and sharing of public services.

In the Yangtze River Delta, there are not many low-hanging fruits left. We have to wade through the shallow waters as much as possible. There are still many hard bones to gnaw on for reform in key areas.

The “blade-inward” reform plan has been clarified for the first time. In January 2018, the Yangtze River Delta Regional Cooperation Office, a cross-administrative permanent institution jointly established by three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta, started operating in a small building in Shanghai. After formulating and implementing two rounds of three-year action plans, a new round of three-year action plans is being prepared. At the same time, the reform directions such as adjusting the settings of cooperation groups and cooperation offices, ensuring staffing, strengthening work functions, and standardizing work procedures have been basically clear.

Can the reform be pushed forward? Zhu Yiyuan, deputy secretary of the party committee and general manager of Changxin Company, told a story - in the initial stage of the Pugang Road east extension project, when the idea of ​​entrustment and joint approval was put forward, many departments found it very strange: can we still do this? After patiently listening to the plan and process, the attitude of the relevant departments made a big change: Let’s do it!

Now when we ask this question again, the affirmative answer has reached a consensus in the Yangtze River Delta. From planning for one region to looking for the overall situation, closely following the two keywords of integration and high quality, being a pioneer in Chinese-style modernization and writing a new chapter of integration is the responsibility of the Yangtze River Delta and the only way for longer-term development.

On April 30, 2024, at the construction site of the west extension line of Shanghai Rail Transit Line 17, with the completion of the welding of the last rail section of the entire line of the Blockport Bridge, it marked the realization of the two-way main line of the west extension project of Shanghai Rail Transit Line 17. Long Rail Link".