41 cities in Yangtze River Delta to become single cluster

A total of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta region, which generates more than one-fifth of the country's GDP, announced ambitious goals on Tuesday to build the area into a world-class city cluster characterized by top-notch industrial combinations and an interconnected traffic network.

The city cluster would span Shanghai as well as Zhejiang, along with Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. They would feature economic vitality, capabilities in innovation, efficient space utilization, high-end talent pool, smooth resource flows, and a green environment, the goals announced in the Wuhu Declaration of City Cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta declared.

"We must make continuous breakthroughs in innovating systems and mechanisms of the integrated development of the region as some inter-city collaborations have gone further into district level based on differentiated advantages, such as scientific research, marine economy and public culture service," said Ruan Qing, the deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission and deputy director of the Yangtze River Delta Regional Cooperation Office.