Office to manage regional growth

A joint administrative office has been established for the Yangtze River Delta, with one of its core tasks to coordinate planning in Shanghai and its three neighboring provinces to make the region competitive on a global scale, according to a senior official.

Differences in detailed planning for Shanghai and Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces in many aspects, such as industrial development and policies on residents' livelihoods, have hindered some collaborative projects in the past, Li Qiang, Party secretary of Shanghai, said in a panel discussion during the ongoing session of the National People's Congress.

"Dead-end roads are one example of the issue. There are still dozens of such roads between the provinces and the municipality for various reasons, including existing residential communities or rivers," he said.