The 2021 Yangtze River Delta University Think Tank Summit was held in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai on November 19. More than 50 experts and scholars at home and abroad shared insights on the coordinated development of Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration in the new pattern of “dual circulation”.
Vice President of Fudan University Chen Zhimin said in his speech that the Yangtze River Delta region has been steadily promoting the development of urban agglomeration and exploring a new path of urban development. Serving as open platforms for cooperation and communication, Demonstration Area Developer Alliance and Yangtze River Delta University Think Tank Alliance, bringing together the cutting-edge ideas of the industry and academia, have been committed to offering proposals for the construction of Yangtze River Delta city clusters in the new pattern of “dual circulation”. As the chair university of the University Think Tank Alliance and founding member of the Demonstration Zone Developer Alliance, Fudan University is willing to give full play to the advantage of its abundant disciplines, strengthen exchanges and cooperation with partnering universities and institutions to boost the construction of the demonstration zone and promote the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.
With the deepened integration of the Yangtze River Delta, the improved administrative service has promoted the mobility of resources across regions, and enhanced the overall competitiveness of the region, while the innovation in the industrial chain has also been strengthened, leading to upgraded value chain, said Zhang Zhongwei, deputy director of the Executive Committee of Demonstration Zone of Green and Integrated Ecological Development of the Yangtze River Delta and deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Development & Reform Commission.
Zheng Yongnian, director general of Guangzhou Academy for Greater Bay Area Studies, pointed out China needs to build world-class platforms for quality economic development, and he stressed the unification of rules and regulations in different cities is the top priority, while efforts should be made to remove administrative barriers and give full play to the strengths of enterprises in the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.
The goal of dual circulation is to realize common prosperity, said Zhao Wei, chief professor at Center for Research of Private Economy, Zhejiang University, who believes that we need to explore how to achieve common prosperity in the Yangtze River Delta while promoting regional integration.
Zhang Jun, director general of Institute for Yangtze River Delta Integration Development at Fudan University, stressed a metropolitan area should be constructed with key cities in the center, and boost the coordination of its edge cities and integration with other metropolitan areas. We should also promote synergy among city clusters for innovation-driven development, and strengthen each city’s specialization.
A batch of studies on the development of Yangtze River Delta city clusters were released at the conference.
According to the study entitled “Integration of the Yangtze River Delta: Evaluation of Industrial Development and Innovation”, urban agglomeration in the Yangtze River Delta still calls for more balanced industrial development, although the region is now taking the lead in industrial development in China. Differentiated high-tech development should be promoted in the three provinces and one municipality which boast their own strengths in industrial development and in innovation-driven development. In addition, the study also calls for more cooperation between cities within the Yangtze River Delta and beyond.
According to the study entitled “Integration of the Yangtze River Delta: Evaluation of Industrial Development and Innovation”, urban agglomeration in the Yangtze River Delta still calls for more balanced industrial development, although the region is now taking the lead in industrial development in China. Differentiated high-tech development should be promoted in the three provinces and one municipality which boast their own strengths in industrial development and in innovation-driven development. In addition, the study also calls for more cooperation between cities within the Yangtze River Delta and beyond.
The study, led by Li Lingfang, professor of management at Fudan University and director of the Digital Economy and Industrial Development Research Group at Fudan Development Institute, reveals the current development of various industries in the Yangtze River Delta in three dimensions: industrial growth, industrial layout and industrial innovation.
“It betters our understanding of both the strengths and weaknesses of the cities in the Yangtze River Delta, and it can be the basis on which policy makers make decisions on the direction of industrial development in the future,” said Li.
In the study entitled “The Role of Small Towns in the Development of Urban Agglomeration under the New Development Paradigm”, the author Tian Shuying, professor at Anhui University, proposed we should tap the potential of small towns and give full play to their strengths, as these towns can effectively empower the coordinated development of city clusters in the Yangtze River Delta.
Ye Ming, associate researcher at Nanjing University, reveals the domestic and international economic ties of cities in the Yangtze River Delta in the dual circulation pattern in his research entitled “Yangtze River Delta in the Dual Circulation of China’s economy”.
Xie Lulu from SASS summarizes the new characteristics of coordinated development of urban agglomerations in the Yangtze River Delta in her research entitled “The Evolution of Urban Agglomeration’s Coordinated Development Mechanisms in Yangtze River Delta”. She also emphasized high-quality integration of the Yangtze River Delta should be boosted by the coordinated development of urban agglomerations.
The Yangtze River Delta University Think Tank Alliance was initiated by Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University and University of Science and Technology of China.
Under the guidance of the Executive Committee of Demonstration Zone of Green and Integrated Ecological Development of the Yangtze River Delta, this year’s summit was co-hosted by the Institute for Yangtze River Delta Integration Development at Fudan University, Fudan Development Institute and Yangtze River Delta University Think Tank Alliance, and co-organized by the Secretariat of China University Think Tank Forum.
Presented by Fudan University Media Center
