A view of the Huawei Lianqiu Lake Research Center in Qingpu District, Shanghai, December 1, 2024. (CFP)

The demonstration zone for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta has made a series of achievements over the past five years, according to a press conference held in Shanghai on December 25.

This year marks the sixth anniversary of the Yangtze River Delta integration being elevated to a national strategy and the fifth anniversary of the demonstration zone. The zone consists of Qingpu District in Shanghai, Wujiang District in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, and Jiashan County in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. The delta region encompasses Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.

Since its establishment in November 2019, the demonstration zone has accomplished 154 institutional innovation achievements, 48 of which have been promoted nationwide, implementing a total of 180 key projects to facilitate regional integration.

After five years of development, the zone has improved its ecological health, with the water environment quality meeting the planned targets ahead of schedule.

In 2023, the GDP of the demonstration zone totaled 472.5 billion yuan, and the total output value of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 872.9 billion yuan, with average annual growth rates at 5.94% and 8.19%, respectively, compared to 2019. The intensity of R&D expenditure increased to 4.2%, higher than the delta region average and national average.

Committed to green development, the demonstration zone hosts 3,319 national high-tech enterprises, and has facilitated smoother flows of talent, capital, technology, and data.