Tide News under Zhejiang Daily Press Group:

Over the years of conducting interviews, I have observed that connections among various areas in the Yangtze River Delta have become increasingly close. Many entrepreneurs from Zhejiang and Jiangsu are now investing in and building factories in Anhui. For many people, business trips have become as convenient as a daily commute. They can meet clients in Shanghai in the morning, attend meetings in Nanjing, Jiangsu, in the afternoon, and return to Hangzhou, Zhejiang, for dinner in the evening. How do you view this change? Thank you.

Zheng Shanjie:

Thank you for your question. Your description is very vivid. Having worked in two provinces in the Yangtze River Delta, I have many thoughts on this topic and often hear public discussion about it. These changes are a result of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta. To answer your question, I would like to highlight the remarkable achievements of regional coordinated development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

China has a vast territory and a wide range of conditions across its eastern, western, southern, northern and central regions. General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to this work. Since the 20th CPC National Congress, the general secretary has presided over nine symposiums on regional coordinated development, representing an unprecedented frequency and level of engagement. The top-level design has been continuously refined, setting major policies and guidelines for advancing regional coordinated development. We have fully implemented the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. We have taken the whole country into account, adopted measures suited to local conditions, and tailored region- and category-specific policies, steadily advancing regional coordinated development and building momentum. There are four distinct features.

First, regional functions and roles have become clearer. Different regions have identified their positioning within the overall national development, highlighting their main functions and distinctive features to fully unleash their comparative advantages. For example, the three major economic engines — the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area — have gained stronger momentum, and continue to attract more industries and people. In 2024, the combined economic volume of these three regions accounted for more than 40% of the national total.

Another example is that the northeast region has become an even stronger strategic support. In 2024, the region's grain output accounted for 25.3% of the national total, and its crude oil output made up 21%. Major technical equipment, such as million-kilowatt hydropower units, has been domestically developed and produced, effectively safeguarding national food, energy and industrial security. Similarly, the Hainan Free Trade Port serves as a key testing ground for China's high-standard opening-up. In the first four years of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the annual average growth rates for goods and services imports and exports were 31.3% and 32.3%, respectively. In the past five years, the actual use of foreign capital surpassed the total amount invested during the first 32 years after the province was founded.

Second, complementary advantages have become more effective. We understand the development gaps among regions in an objective manner, and have boosted momentum by tapping into potential, allowing all regions and all people to share in the benefits of development. For example, the industrial, technological, managerial and financial strengths of the eastern region have been closely integrated with the resource endowment advantages of the western region, making their complementary effects even more pronounced. The transmission capacity of the west-to-east power transmission program has exceeded 300 million kilowatts. The computing power of the eight major hubs of the East Data, West Computing initiative accounts for about 70% of the country's total. The once-barren Gobi Desert has been transformed into a source of green energy, achieving sand control while increasing people's income. The western region has operated a total of 37,000 China-Europe Railway Express trains, accounting for nearly half of the national total, transforming inland areas into new frontiers. The central region has capitalized on its advantages as a key link between the eastern and western regions, as well as the northern and southern regions. More than 60% of the country's main expressways and high-speed railway lines pass through the central region. The region has developed 18 strategic emerging industry clusters and 13 advanced manufacturing clusters, with quantum technology, memory chips and heavy machinery industries demonstrating robust growth, establishing the central region as a critical pillar of national development.

Third, coordinated governance has been greatly strengthened. Regional coordinated development is a vivid example of our institutional strength in pooling resources to accomplish major tasks. For instance, I'd like to share how different regions have worked together to advance the protection of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers.

First, let's look at the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River Economic Belt has reached a consensus on promoting well-coordinated conservation and avoiding excessive development. The issue of chemical plants surrounding the river has been fundamentally resolved, and the 10-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River continues. Today, people can see Yangtze finless porpoises surfacing in the waves, leaping fish and flying birds, creating a scene of "clear water flowing eastward." Next, let's look at the Yellow River. The nine provinces along the Yellow River have planted forests on 200 million mu of land and restored 231 million mu of degraded grassland. The Loess Plateau has transformed from yellow to green, and the Yellow River water has changed from turbid to clear. It can be said that "the winding Yellow River has taken on a new appearance."

Fourth, there has been more vitality. We have established new systems while abolishing outdated ones, driven all regions to unlock potential and stimulate vitality, and developed regional powerhouses with enhanced international competitiveness. For example, we have been advancing integrated development in the Yangtze River Delta area, moving from infrastructure connectivity to institutional coordination that includes joint innovation, industrial collaboration, and shared livelihood benefits, with many quality-of-life improvements resulting from these comprehensive efforts. The region's integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence industries account for three-fifths, one-third and one-third of national output, respectively, making them strong growth poles for development. As another example, we have been advancing closer alignment of rules and mechanisms in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, enabling the efficient flow of funds, talent and other factors among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. More than 27,000 Macao residents now live and work in Hengqin, while the Shenzhen Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone has attracted over 440 tech companies and 200 high-end research projects. Additionally, solid progress has been made in building China into a strong maritime country. In 2024, China's gross ocean product exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time, while maritime cargo volume and container throughput represented about one-third of the global total. China dominates global port rankings, with six of the world's top 10 ports in container throughput and eight of the top 10 ports in cargo throughput, and with Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan ports setting world records. China's shipbuilding and offshore engineering equipment industry holds over 50% of the global market share, leading new orders in 14 of 18 mainstream ship types. China has been the world's largest producer of marine products for multiple consecutive years, making our ocean a veritable "blue granary." As a result, we have charted a distinctive path toward maritime strength with Chinese characteristics.

These examples demonstrate the progress and results of regional coordinated development. Thank you.