What tasks should the Yangtze River Delta integration focus on next? , facing new situations, new challenges and new requirements

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta becoming a national strategy. The Yangtze River Delta region accounts for 4% of the country's land area and accounts for nearly a quarter of the country's total economic output. It is one of the regions with the most active economy, the highest degree of openness, and the strongest innovation capabilities in my country. Over the past five years, three provinces and one city in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui have responded to the central government’s call, taking on responsibilities, taking the initiative, making bold breakthroughs, and working together to create a strong and active growth pole for national development.

Currently, the world is undergoing major changes unseen in a century, and the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta is facing new situations, new challenges and new requirements. Accurately assessing the external situation, staying close to key tasks, and promoting higher-quality integrated development are top priorities for the Yangtze River Delta region.

Focusing on the strategic positioning of "One Pole, Three Regions and One Highland" proposed in the "Outline of the Yangtze River Delta Regional Integrated Development Plan", the Yangtze River Delta region actively stimulates the vitality of market entities, improves its ability to innovate, improves its ability to participate in global resource allocation, and promotes economic development. It plays the role of "stabilizer" and "main engine" in improving quality and efficiency. After five years of construction and development, the integrated high-quality development of the Yangtze River Delta has achieved outstanding results in institutional innovation, project promotion, and people's livelihood experience. The three provinces and one city closely adhere to the two key points of "integration" and "high quality" Words, constantly promote "blueprint planning" into "realistic picture".

First, the development of the Yangtze River Delta plays a "ballast" role for the country's stable growth. Facing multiple internal and external pressures and challenges, three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta have intensively introduced policies to stabilize the economy, boost market confidence, promote economic recovery and revitalization, and demonstrate strong development resilience.

The second is to form advantageous industrial clusters of strategic emerging industries and advanced manufacturing, promote coordinated industrial development, and promote regional industrial integration. In the fields of strategic emerging industries and advanced manufacturing such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and new energy vehicles, the Yangtze River Delta has formed advantageous industrial clusters nationwide and even globally.

Third, the coordinated development of science and technology has promoted the Yangtze River Delta to become a national innovation highland. Under the guidance of the "Yangtze River Delta Science and Technology Innovation Community Construction and Development Plan", a number of action plans, implementation opinions, key research cooperation mechanisms, and implementation methods have been introduced, and the joint research coordination mechanism and implementation path have become increasingly clear. Scientific and technological innovation indicators such as R&D investment, R&D personnel, scientific papers, and invention patents are far ahead of the national level, and the Yangtze River Delta's scientific and technological innovation integration capabilities have been significantly improved.

Fourth, internal and external opening up promotes the integrated high-quality development of the Yangtze River Delta to become more dynamic. In 2022, the Yangtze River Delta's foreign trade scale hit a new high, with import and export volume reaching 15.1 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7%, accounting for 35.8% of the country's total import and export value. The improvement of the Yangtze River Delta's level of opening up to the outside world is also reflected in the ever-expanding institutional opening up and the increasingly rich levels of opening up, and the internal opening up market system has also been gradually established.

Fifth, outstanding achievements have also been made in areas such as infrastructure interconnection, ecological green integration, and public service sharing, and people have a greater sense of gain and happiness.

At present, the international situation is complex and ever-changing. Under the influence of factors such as the COVID-19 epidemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the tightening of the global financial environment, world changes are accelerating, and profound adjustments are taking place in the international economy, science and technology, culture, security and other fields.

First, world economic growth is slowing down. Although governments have stepped up infrastructure and fiscal stimulus, world economic growth is still slowing. Factors such as continued tightening of monetary policies and trade protectionism in various countries have also led to instability in the world economy. In July 2023, the IMF lowered its 2023 world economic growth forecast from 3.5% to 3.0%. The world economy faces multiple downward risks and growth remains weak. However, the IMF expects China and other emerging markets and developing economies to continue to maintain a stable recovery momentum. The World Bank also slowed down the global economic growth forecast from 3.1% to 2.1%, and predicted that China's economic growth will increase to 5.6% in 2023. Although my country's domestic development has shown a stabilizing and improving situation, the overall external environment remains severe, which will inevitably have a certain impact on my country's economic development.

Second, global protectionism and unilateralism are prevalent. The free expansion trend of the global industrial chain has changed, and many developed countries have implemented "manufacturing return" and "re-industrialization" strategies. At the same time, neighboring countries and regions have increased their efforts to attract investment in the low-end manufacturing sector. This has had some impact on my country's manufacturing development, industrial chain stability, and labor employment.

Third, restrictions on key technologies by a few Western countries, led by the United States, have brought challenges to the development of some of my country's emerging industries. As China rises rapidly and gradually becomes an important participant in the global economy, some Western countries, led by the United States, have tightened restrictions on important science and technology and key technologies, posing challenges to my country's economic and technological development at this stage. Our country must strengthen its scientific and technological innovation capabilities and break through the "stuck neck" problem.

What tasks should the Yangtze River Delta integration focus on?

Facing new situations and situations, the Yangtze River Delta should have the courage to take responsibility and take the initiative. At present, it must focus on the following tasks.

First, we must give full play to the advantages of the national system, improve the internal mechanism of scientific and technological innovation, and strive for major breakthroughs in key areas. It is recommended to strengthen top-level planning and design and conduct joint research on major national scientific and technological innovation projects. The science and technology department should strengthen organizational coordination and top-level planning for cross-regional scientific and technological innovation in the Yangtze River Delta, aim at the forefront of world science and technology, dock with national strategic needs, and conduct joint research in key areas such as integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and advanced manufacturing. It is recommended that the legislative department promulgate relevant laws and regulations for the construction and development of the Yangtze River Delta Science and Technology Innovation Community to provide legal protection for cross-regional collaborative innovation. Improve the endogenous power mechanism of regional collaborative innovation, stimulate the enthusiasm of various entities to participate in collaborative innovation, and establish a benefit-sharing mechanism and a risk-sharing mechanism. In addition, we can take the lead in implementing a fiscal and tax sharing mechanism in the Yangtze River Delta innovation field, explore the establishment of a Yangtze River Delta science and technology innovation mutual fund, and attract social capital to participate in joint investments in science and technology projects in the Yangtze River Delta region.

The second is to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern with high-level opening up and create a new highland for China's reform and opening up in the new era. China is already the world's second largest economy, but there is still a gap between China's economic energy level and quality level and those of developed countries. It must rely on domestic and foreign resources to continuously promote economic transformation and industrial upgrading. China is taking the road of independent innovation and must actively utilize the huge domestic demand market to attract more high-end international factors to participate in China's development, thereby promoting industrial transformation and upgrading. Strengthen risk resistance through the domestic macrocycle, while expanding open areas and promoting higher-level opening up, accelerating the construction of a new development pattern with the domestic macrocycle as the main body and domestic and international dual cycles reinforcing each other. Reconstructing internal and external opening-up with a new development pattern and promoting deeper reforms from a higher starting point and higher-level opening-up are the strategic mission of the integrated high-quality development of the Yangtze River Delta.

The third is to make every effort to create a strong and active growth pole for national development. The Yangtze River Delta must serve as a vanguard in promoting high-quality development, building a modern economic system, and promoting regional integrated development, setting an example and benchmark for other regions across the country, and enhancing its influence and driving force on national economic development. At present, the continued improvement of the domestic production and consumption pattern and the accelerated development of new urbanization are the solid foundation for the development plan of Chinese-style modernization in the next 30 years, and are also an important guarantee for the Yangtze River Delta to become a strong and active growth pole for national development. It should be pointed out that at present, the leading role of the Yangtze River Delta has not yet been fully exerted, the leadership capabilities of core cities are still insufficient, and some internal coordination issues need to be further sorted out. To achieve the strategic tasks assigned by the central government, the Yangtze River Delta still needs to continue its efforts.

The fourth is to innovate various joint working mechanisms and promote pilot free trade zone platforms. The role of the Yangtze River Delta Integrated Foreign Investment Cooperation and Development Alliance should be given full play, the coordination of the commercial authorities of the three provinces and one city should be strengthened, and the cooperation of provincial departments such as the National Development and Reform Commission, the Economic and Information Technology Commission, and the Foreign Affairs Office should be strengthened to achieve the sharing of information, platforms and services for group overseas travel. . Promote the pilot implementation of the free trade zone platform, choose the Yangtze River Delta region as a pilot site to align with relevant international high-standard economic and trade rules, and steadily expand institutional opening-up. On the one hand, we should actively explore ways to expand opening up, give full play to the role of the Yangtze River Delta Pilot Free Trade Zone as a comprehensive test platform, promote the optimization and upgrading of trade in goods, and accelerate the expansion of trade in services; on the other hand, we must actively promote the joining of high-standard economic and trade agreements such as CPTPP and DEPA. . Actively carry out docking pilots in multiple free trade pilot zones in the Yangtze River Delta, take the lead in integrating with international standards in terms of rules, regulations, management, standards, etc., build an institutional system and regulatory model that is connected with international high-standard economic and trade rules, and further deepen opening up to the outside world.

Fifth, we must actively do a good job in stabilizing growth and employment, and strive to be the "ballast stone" for stabilizing the economy. The overall trend of the domestic economy is improving, but in the short term there are still key issues such as fluctuations in economic development and repeated employment rates. Under the current situation, maintaining sustained and stable economic development and achieving overall steady improvement in employment are higher requirements for the integration of the Yangtze River Delta. All regions in the Yangtze River Delta must grasp the current situation they are facing, enhance their sense of development responsibility and urgency, strengthen pre-adjustment, fine-tuning and inter-cyclical adjustment, focus on the difficulties and pain points that restrict stable economic growth, improve the level of policies, grasp the timeliness and effectiveness of policies, and consolidate The economy stabilizes and picks up momentum. At the same time, in the face of problems such as high pressure on total employment and prominent structural employment contradictions, we should also focus on key tasks such as promoting the employment of college students, encouraging flexible employment, expanding rural employment, and providing full support to people in need to find employment, broaden employment channels, and actively respond to employment Difficult questions.