The integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta has yielded fruitful results

Source: People's Daily - People's Daily

The integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta is a major national strategy personally planned, personally deployed and personally promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping. In November 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping announced at the first China International Import Expo that he would support the development of regional integration in the Yangtze River Delta and elevate it to a national strategy.

On November 4, at the press conference of the State Council's new office, the relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission said that in the past three years, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, closely following the two keywords of "integration" and "high quality", focusing on the three major missions of "taking the lead in forming a new development pattern, bravely being the pioneer of China's scientific and technological and industrial innovation, and accelerating the construction of a new highland for reform and opening up", giving play to the leading role of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui have promoted their strengths, based on the strategic positioning of "one pole, three regions and one highland", and the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta has achieved fruitful results.

The strong and active growth pole of national development has basically taken shape. The proportion of GDP in the Yangtze River Delta region increased from 24.1% in 2018 to 24.5% in the first three quarters of this year, showing obvious strong and active growth characteristics, and the Yangtze River Delta region's influence on the national economy has been continuously enhanced, and the contribution rate to the national economy has continued to increase.

The construction of high-quality development model areas has borne fruit. The implementation of the new development concept is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and positive progress is promoted to achieve quality change, power change and efficiency change. The transformation of ecological advantages into economic and social development advantages has achieved remarkable results, the new advantages of the digital economy are providing important traction for accelerating the transformation of power, and the free and smooth flow of factors has promoted the effective improvement of resource allocation efficiency. Zhejiang has been given a new mission of high-quality development and construction of a common prosperity demonstration zone.

Taking the lead in basically realizing the construction of the modernization leading area has begun to show results. The modern economic system has been basically constructed, the integrated development of urban and rural areas has achieved remarkable results, and the resource-saving and environment-friendly society has been basically completed. Red culture and Jiangnan culture are mutually integrated, and 120 government service matters in sixteen major areas of system integration have achieved "one network communication office". Shanghai Pudong New Area has been entrusted with the important task of high-level reform and opening up to build a leading area for socialist modernization.

The construction of the regional integration development demonstration zone has achieved practical results. Plant a good "test field" for integrated system innovation, build a high-level ecological green integrated development demonstration zone in the Yangtze River Delta, and have launched two batches of 73 integrated system innovation achievements in eight categories. A number of cross-border areas such as Hongqiao International Open Hub, G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, Northern Anhui Industrial Transfer Agglomeration Area, and Ningman Ningchu have taken the lead in making breakthroughs. The integration system and mechanisms such as policy coordination, factor market, and multi-level and multi-field cooperation have been explored and improved, and the development of regional integration has moved from project coordination to integration system innovation, making a demonstration for the integrated development of other regions in the country.

A new highland of reform and opening up has been initially established. Deepening reform from a higher starting point with reform measures as the focus on breakthroughs, centralized implementation, and system integration has been comprehensively promoted, breakthroughs have been made in the reform and innovation of "not breaking administrative subordination and breaking administrative boundaries", higher-level opening up characterized by institutional opening up and all-round opening up has been accelerated, the institutional open system of "five freedoms and one convenience" in the Lingang New Area of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone has been basically established, and an all-round pattern of opening up led by the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has initially taken shape.

In June this year, the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Integrated Development Plan of the Yangtze River Delta" was officially issued and implemented, deploying the key tasks in 9 aspects such as building a new development pattern and regional linkage development, and listing 3 lists in accordance with the requirements of the list system and the promotion of project-based work, clarifying the task book, timetable and road map for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.

People's Daily ( 04/11/2021)