Local deputies suggest further regional integration

The integration of the Yangtze River Delta region needs more impetus, a number of deputies to the National People’s Congress from Shanghai have said.

Chen Li, general manager of the Shanghai branch of China Mobile, said the construction of the "new infrastructure," exemplified by the 5G network, is expected to be a major driver of the integrated development of the region.

For this purpose, governments of the region should accelerate the construction of the 5G network by concerted effort as a huge investment is to be involved, Chen said. 

"The cost of a 5G base station is two to three times that of a 4G base station, with higher energy consumption, and it also requires refitting of other facilities such as roads, buildings and electricity," he said.

He suggested a systematic sharing of resources within the region and the introduction of new financing means to reduce costs.

A deeper integration of industries and a safer industrial Internet are also called for.

Li Lin, director of the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a member of the academy, said institutional problems need to be addressed in forging a community of innovation in the region.

Li called for the establishment of an innovation administration and an innovation fund on the regional level.

The alignment of policies in talent incentives, intellectual property protection and taxation is also necessary, he said.

Zhang Zhao’an, vice director of the committee for economic affairs of central committee of the China Democratic National Construction Association, a non-Communist party in China, said the further integration of the region should focus on tasks including ecological protection, infrastructure construction, market and industrial policies and urban functions.

“The core of the infrastructure construction lies in further traffic integration, especially public transportation, which will bring different parts of the region closer to each other,” he said.

The Yangtze River Delta region encompasses Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces and Shanghai.