City plays leading role in Yangtze delta

Shanghai is playing a leading role in research and development in the Yangtze River Delta region, with foreign-invested companies major contributors, according to a report.

“Shanghai is the core in R&D cooperation in the YRD region, while cities near Shanghai show strong collaborative innovation capability,” according to the report released during a forum hosted by the Shanghai Association of Foreign Investment on Tuesday.

“G60 Science and Technology Corridor is an important carrier, and Nanjing is the best in radiation effect, which drives the rapid rise of scientific research in central Jiangsu Province,” the Yangtze River Delta Foreign-Invested Enterprise Sci-Tech Innovation report said.

According to official data, there were six provinces and cities on the Chinese mainland with a R&D investment of more than 100 billion yuan (US$14.27 billion) in 2018, including three in the YRD region — Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Chen Deming, chairman of the China Association of Foreign Investment, said foreign companies were important in this round of scientific and technological innovation, which created huge opportunities for foreign-invested enterprises.

“Foreign investors are open for new development while the new era has come,” Chen said at the forum. “The new foreign investment law, due to take effect next year, will help foreign investors find new room for growth, and we expect foreign companies to contribute even more in this process.”

Shanghai is now home to more than 50,000 foreign-invested enterprises, and 452 foreign research and development centers have been set up in the city.

Among the first batch of 25 enterprises listed on the STAR Market, five are in Shanghai, four in Jiangsu and three in Zhejiang. Also among the 25, six are foreign-funded enterprises, indicating the strong innovation competence of the YRD region and of foreign companies in the region.