Innovative development

During the speech at the symposium, Xi urged Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and Shanghai to prioritize key areas and major fields including integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence, and he called for efforts to foster the innovative development of micro, small and medium-sized technology companies.

Zhang Haohan, Party secretary of the Jiangsu Federation of Social Science Association and director of the Yangtze River Delta Regional Joint Research Center, said the delta region has advantages among the country's city clusters in technological and industrial innovation, providing a foundation to establish a modern manufacturing system.

The breakthroughs brought by technologies in industries and industrial chains will help form the new development pattern, which is important in responding to the complex international situation, especially the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, and promoting the country's high-quality development, Zhang said.

Zhang Mizhi, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institute for Science of Science, said he believed more national-level strategic scientific and technological forces and innovative resources will be deployed in the delta region in the upcoming years.

With high-level manufacturing, strong consumption power and an advanced export-oriented economy, the delta region will set an example for the future development of other city clusters regarding the "dual circulation" development pattern, he said.

On Jan 16, the Anhui Provincial Development and Reform Commission released a plan on regional integration, saying that the province, which is home to many prominent universities and institutions, will work with Shanghai to bolster research in cutting-edge technologies with an aim to elevate the country's overall innovative capacity.

"Anhui will strive to improve its innovative capacity and the development of emerging industries, and become a demonstration area for ecologically friendly development," said Zhong Lan, director of the commission's Office for Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta.

"In the future, more infrastructure, including high-speed railways and expressways, will be built to connect cities in the region, and local people will be able to enjoy more shared high-quality medical and educational resources," Zhong said.

Businesses have benefited from the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region.

Zhang Xiaojun, vice-president of smart wearable devices maker Huami Corp, which is headquartered in Hefei, said the integrated development of the region has brought about more favorable changes for small and medium-sized companies.

"Nowadays, it seems everybody is talking about the region's integration and many of Huami's business partners are located in the region," said Zhang, adding that his company will soon set up another subsidiary in Shanghai.

"We realized it's unlikely we can recruit all the talent we need in Hefei, but the Yangtze River Delta region serves as a good talent pool," he said.