Seamless data flows and collaborative innovation among aspects key for region, forum hears

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region should further strengthen “soft links”, including more seamless data flows and collaborative innovation platforms, to drive the area’s high-quality development and better address the country’s goal of building a unified national market, said officials and experts.

They made the remarks during a forum on the YRD’s integrated development held in Shanghai on May 21. Now in its eighth consecutive edition, the forum unveiled 10 measures to forge closer regional ties regarding government affairs, mutual recognition of medical examination results, nurturing of skilled talents, cultural and tourism consumption activities, among other things.

Meanwhile, the third batch of 12 YRD innovation consortia was announced, aiming to promote the coordinated development of new quality productive forces.

Basic research will be underscored in the YRD during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period to make it a world-level source for technology innovation, said Chen Jining, Shanghai’s Party secretary, during the forum.

To better attain this goal, technology funds must enhance their scale and efficiency, while various innovation consortia will play bigger roles. Large scientific and technology infrastructures will be opened to more users while scientific data should be shared and exchanged with higher efficiency, he said.

Cross-regional application scenarios should be explored to boost innovation. More international standards should be introduced jointly amid the construction of more industrial parks to advance the development of new quality productive forces, said Chen.

The free trade zones in the YRD will be supported to conduct stress tests concerning cross-border data flow and cross-border research and development, said Xiao Weiming, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Data should be supplied effectively and utilized better so that the multiplier effect of data as a production factor can be amplified for the integration of the YRD, said Liu Yingfeng, chief engineer of the Shanghai Data Bureau. Therefore, efforts should be made to gather more innovation resources, achieve breakthroughs in major application scenarios, and pioneer regional standards, he said.

Sufficient capital supply is also crucial to the development of new quality productive forces. While several government-led venture capital and market-based venture capital funds have been founded in the YRD, their choices of targeted projects have become similar, which may lead to competition of market resources, said Wang Jingbo, managing director of IDG Capital.

Therefore, Wang suggested that the national asset platforms in the region should team up with the government funds and leading market institutions to jointly set up industrial funds, merger funds and special funds, to focus on the key parts of the specific industrial chains or the strategic industries that feature higher cyclical volatility.

Rich talent supply is another advantage for the high-quality development in the YRD, as it is home to over 7,900 world top scientists, higher than the other similar regions in China, according to Ruan Qing, head of Shanghai Institute for Global City.

The YRD has seen the rise of “migratory” talents, with cross-city commuting surging by about 168 percent during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, according to Liu Fei, director of the public services division of the Hongqiao International Central Business District administrative committee.

Therefore, tighter transportation ties will be forged. A transportation connectivity action plan was unveiled at the forum. With 44 specific projects, the plan aims to accelerate the construction of a multi-level rail transit network, improve highway accessibility, and establish an integrated river-sea intermodal transport system.

In late 2024, State-owned enterprises from Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang jointly established an operating company for the regional rail networks around Shanghai.