Plan will boost Yangtze Delta urban cluster

The Yangtze River Delta is set to build a global reputation for its cluster of cities by 2030 by focusing on high-end equipment manufacturing and modern services, the State Council said on Wednesday.

At an executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang, the State Council, which is China's Cabinet, ratified a plan to further develop the Yangtze River Delta urban cluster. The 30 cities in Shanghai and Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces account for one-fourth of China's economy and cover 354,000 square kilometers.

Two other such clusters are the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei province region in the north and the Pearl River Delta urban cluster in South China's Guangdong province.

To cultivate new momentum for economic growth and upgrade traditional industries, innovations should be strengthened in key areas of high-end manufacturing such as information technology, the biopharmaceutical industry, auto making and new materials, according to a statement released after the meeting. Additionally, modern services such as finance, technological research and development, and logistics should be enhanced, it said.

Local governments should conduct pilot programs to establish an integrated market of finance, land and property transactions, and they should cooperate on public services such as education, healthcare and social security, the statement said.

It added that the Yangtze River Delta urban cluster should make great efforts to attract foreign investment and talent while testing free trade ports and making foreign trade easier.

Ecology will be a key to the region's further development, with remedial steps taken to promote clean soil, air and water. In addition, a compensation mechanism will be set up under which businesses will make up for using a large amount of such resources as water.

Lyu Bin, director of the Urban and Regional Planning Department at Peking University, said: "I am optimistic about the city cluster's future, because the region has the country's most intelligent people and most opened-up economy."