Yangtze River Delta races ahead as integration model

Shared future

As a key economic engine of the country, the Yangtze River Delta region contributes about a quarter of the country's total economic output, and accounts for more than one-third of the nation's imports and exports, according to public information.

"Sharing a relatively similar culture, cities within the Yangtze River Delta region have long maintained very close communications and exchanges, and their similarity is also extended to entrepreneurship," said Zuo Xuejin, a researcher from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

"Their strong connection and interaction make integration of the region much easier than in other regions," Zuo said.

According to Zuo, since its integrated development was elevated to a national strategy in 2018, the region has achieved significant progress, improving people's quality of life and benefiting business.

The Yangtze River Delta region has one of the nation's most developed high-speed railway networks. As of May 2024, a total of 26 high-speed railway routes were operating across the region, covering all prefecture-level cities with the exception of Zhoushan, an island city in Zhejiang. In total, the region operates more than 14,500 km of rail lines, including over 7,200 km of high-speed rail.

The region plans to extend its rail network to about 17,000 km by 2025, with some 8,000 km of high-speed rail.

The rapid rail network has accelerated economic development and personnel exchanges, Xu Ruihua, a professor with the College of Transportation Engineering at Tongji University was quoted as saying by China Business News.

"Once the regional railway network is formed and gets integrated into the national railway network, the exchanges between the Yangtze River Delta region and areas across the nation will be further enhanced," said Xu.

The rail networks have also reduced the costs of trade and communications across the region, aiding the free and efficient flow of people, goods, capital and information, said Niu Fengrui, a researcher specializing in regional economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In addition to the rail network, a world-class airport cluster with global importance is taking shape in the East China city cluster. Accounting for merely one-thirtieth of the country's airspace, the area operates one-fifth of China's passenger volume and handles one-third of the nation's air cargo throughput at its 24 airports, according to China News Service.

From January to May, the region transported 115 million air travelers as well as 2.41 million metric tons of cargo, with 862,000 aircraft landings and takeoffs, according to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China's East China Regional Administration.

Supported by reliable air transportation and improved infrastructure, the Yangtze River Delta region has seen its aviation capacity and services constantly enhanced.

However, the integration of the region is more than just transportation, experts said. The medical expenses settlement service, which connects 24,500 medical institutions in 41 major cities across the region, has assisted more than 33 million medical visits by patients and saved nearly 5.6 billion yuan ($773 million) in advance payments, according to Xinhua News Agency.