Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and Shanghai, the three provincial regions in the Yangtze River Delta have made unremitting efforts since the start of 2017 to implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and the instructions made by General Secretary Xi Jinping on the promotion of the integrated development in the Yangtze River Delta in a bid to boost the Yangtze River Economic Belt strategy and the innovation-driven development strategy by taking advantage of the Belt and Road initiative.
In the beginning of 2017, the joint office of the Yangtze River Delta region, focusing on the theme of "innovation, synergy, integration and building a world-class urban agglomeration", jointly formulated the "2017 Yangtze River Delta Cooperative Work Plan". In the past year, the cooperation of the three provinces and municipality in the Yangtze River Delta has blossomed in all fields.
A 2,000-km quantum communication line opened last September between Beijing and Shanghai.
The line is the world's first trunk line of secure quantum telecommunications. The Beijing-Shanghai Trunk Line connects Beijing, Jinan, Hefei, and Shanghai.
The line is connected with the world's first quantum satellite, which was launched by China in August last year, through a station in Beijing. The satellite is nicknamed "Micius," after a fifth century B.C. Chinese philosopher and scientist who has been credited as the first one in human history conducting optical experiments.
The heavy-duty gas turbines produced by Shanghai Electric features high efficiency, high power and high flexibility, securing its leading position in China’s market share.
The Yangtze River Delta is now home to 13 national major technological infrastructures, accounting for 26.5% of the national total.
The delta region has also witnessed the establishment of a wide range of R&D facilities, as is evidenced by the establishment of nearly 50 R&D institutions launched by Jiangsu in collaboration with universities and colleges in the region.
The R&D institutions have garnered nearly 5 billion yuan of investment from the private sector and incubated more than 200 startups.
The development of regional economic transformation is obviously accelerated through strengthening innovation drive.
The Shanghai-Dafeng Industrial Cluster Zone and Suzhou-Chuzhou Modern Industrial Park have materialized the transfer of 150 investment projects with the scale of industrial transfer adding up to 400 billion yuan to come up with a good situation of complementary advantages, coordinated support and common development.
With economic development and environmental protection complementing each other, the three provinces and one municipality have bolstered cooperative efforts to launch regional drinking water source protection cross-check, coal-fired boiler renovation inspection and vehicle environmental protection data sharing platform to improve the water, gas and soil environment and unfold the beautiful picture of a greener Yangtze River Delta.
One breakthrough after another has been made on the phase I project of the Shanghai-Nantong High-speed Railway. A number of new highways have been opened to traffic. The Huainan-Jiangsu 1000-volt ultra voltage AC transmission engineering project is nearing completion. The big data information alliance is making headway. These achievements have boosted the connectivity in the Yangtze River Delta.
The unified settlement of reimbursement of medical expenses and the social security certification have sped up the integration and benefited the people in the region substantially.
The intra-regional settlement of reimbursement of medical expenses, for example, has allowed nearly 6000 insured patients claim their reimbursement of 150 million yuan within the region.
The integrated development within the Yangtze River Delta has taken a new step forward with the coordinated implementation of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the progress of the Yangtze River Delta city cluster.
In the first three quarters of last year, the three provinces and one municipality in the Yangtze River Delta registered 1.4 trillion yuan of GDP, accounting for 23.76% of the national total. The general budget revenue in the region totaled 2.09 trillion yuan, accounting for 15.57% of the national total. The import and export volume totaled 746 million yuan, accounting for 36.76% of the national total.
