Yangtze delta demonstration zone marks third anniversary
Yuandang Lake in the Yangtze River Delta Ecology and Greenery Integration Demonstration
The development of the Yangtze delta demonstration zone has yielded remarkable fruits over the past three years as the environment has improved while new vitality has been injected into economic growth and people's sense of gain has been enhanced, officials told a press conference on Tuesday.
The Yangtze River Delta Ecology and Greenery Integration Demonstration Zone, covering 2,413 square kilometers, includes Shanghai's suburban Qingpu District, Wujiang District in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, and Jiashan County in Zhejiang Province.
This year marks the third anniversary of the zone's establishment.
The annual growth of the gross domestic product of the zone hit 7.4 percent on average year on year, with the total industrial output value above designated size (those with annual main business revenue above 20 million yuan, or US$2.84 million) posting an annual increase of 10.9 percent on average.
By the end of last year, the zone had registered 2,411 national high-tech enterprises, surging 31.5 percent from a year earlier.
"The development of the demonstration zone is on fast track, with new impetus injected into its high-quality development," Hua Yuan, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai government and director of the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission, told the press conference.
"The fruitful results yielding from the integration of the zone has benefited an increasing number of market entities and the public, and the zone has taken on a brand-new look."
In total, 108 key projects are proceeding smoothly in the zone, with construction of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Jiaxing inter-city railway and "Watertown Living Room," planned as "a trial area of high-quality green development, a display area of crossover and integrated innovation and a leading area in world-class watertown livability," are well on track.
A number of environment-related indexes in the zone, regarding air and water quality, continue to improve, and a river and lake chief mechanism has been established.
Under a smart online tax handling service system, about 54,000 applications have been dealt with in the zone, benefiting more than 20,000 tax payers, who enjoyed personally tailored service.
Science and technology innovation coupons worth 45.8 million yuan have been delivered to businesses in the zone, allowing cross-area redemption to boost firms' innovation drive.
The Huawei Qingpu Research Center in Shanghai's suburban Qingpu District
In terms of public service, eight cross-area buses are operating in the zone, recording 2.02 million rides so far.
In total, 2.46 million people have enjoyed the registration-exemption policy when they sought cross-area medical treatment.
A single pass based on the social insurance card has been launched in the zone, enabling residents in Qingpu, Wujiang and Jiashan to enjoy the same treatment and preferential policies in transportation, sightseeing and cultural experiences.
A raft of measures have been taken to boost digital economy development, scientific innovation and finance, green insurance and IPR protection, promoting the mobility of talent and fund in the zone.
Sixteen key ecological and environmental protection measures have been implemented in the zone over the three years, and the bank of Yuandang Lake is undergoing ecological restoration through green and low-carbon technologies to improve its water quality.
The water quality improvement project of Taipu River involving 22 kilometers is scheduled to be completed within the year.
Construction of the west extension of Metro Line 17 is ongoing in full swing, and construction for the Nantong-Suzhou-Jiaxing-Ningbo High-speed Railway will start within the year.
In Qingpu, a digital line is being established, with eight clusters worth 100 billion yuan each covering the biomedicine, new material, high-end equipment and fashion consumption sectors.
Over the three years, Qingpu has built 23 new schools with high education quality and the number of beds at medical institutions in the suburban district has grown 40 percent. The Qingpu branch of Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University will soon start operation.
The district has established 102 new senior-care facilities such as day care centers and community-based canteens serving elderly residents.
