The "Recommendations" of the provincial Party committees of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui on formulating the 15th Five-Year Plans for their respective provinces have all now been published in full.

       On thoroughly implementing the national strategy of "integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta," Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui propose to accelerate the joint building of an international science and technology innovation center, strengthen coordination on major plans, important matters, infrastructure and public services, jointly build world-class industrial clusters as well as airport clusters and port clusters, and proactively align with Shanghai's building of the "Five Centers."

　　A science and technology innovation center is one of Shanghai's core functions; last year the city's R&D spending intensity reached 4.35%. The Central Economic Work Conference held in mid-this month extended the Shanghai International Science and Technology Innovation Center to the entire Yangtze River Delta region of one municipality and three provinces, so as to better integrate resources and continuously amplify its role in originating original innovation, leading high-end industries, and transforming scientific and technological achievements.

　　The "Recommendations" of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee propose deeply integrating into national strategies such as the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, accelerating the joint building of an international science and technology innovation center, strengthening joint efforts to tackle key core technologies, building a source of science and technology innovation, and jointly building a world-class industrial cluster in the Yangtze River Delta.

　　At the same time, Zhejiang will advance the interconnection of transportation infrastructure in the Yangtze River Delta and jointly build world-class airport clusters and port clusters. It will build the Yangtze River Delta Eco-Green Integrated Development Demonstration Zone at a high level and build the Jiashan County high-quality development demonstration site with high quality. It will strengthen Zhejiang-Shanghai cooperation, fully align with Shanghai's building of the "Five Centers," and deepen cooperation on the development of the Xiaoyangshan area.

　　The Yangtze River Delta region, led by Shanghai, covers an area of 358,000 square kilometers and is China's largest economically developed homogeneous contiguous space. Since the "integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta" was elevated to a national strategy in November 2018, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui have successively formulated and jointly implemented three rounds of the "Three-Year Action Plan for Integrated Development." According to statistics, from 2018 to 2024, the Yangtze River Delta's GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.58%, 0.27 percentage points faster than the national rate, and its share of the national total rose from 23.9% to 24.6%, contributing about 26% of China's economic increment over the six years, with its function as a strong and active growth pole consolidated and enhanced.

　　Jiangsu's economic aggregate accounts for more than 40% of the Yangtze River Delta. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Jiangsu leveraged its strengths to serve Shanghai and coordinate with Zhejiang and Anhui. The provincial Party committee's "Recommendations" make clear that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Jiangsu will jointly advance the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, strengthen coordination on major plans, important matters, infrastructure and public services, and build a closer regional innovation community and industrial development community. It will build the Yangtze River Delta Eco-Green Integrated Development Demonstration Zone at a high level, support the building of the Yangtze River Estuary Industrial Innovation and Green Development Coordination Zone, and plan to build an innovation and development belt along the Yangtze River.