Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to promote economic integration and high-quality growth of the Yangtze River Delta as China pushes ahead with reviving its economy from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks on Thursday (August 20) in a meeting in Hefei City in east China's Anhui Province, during his inspection of relief work in the flood-stricken province, according to a news release on Saturday.

He highlighted the "strategic importance" of the Yangtze River Delta – a region that covers Shanghai and the three neighboring provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui – in China's economic growth and social development under the current conditions.

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Xi learnt the latest development of the delta region from chiefs of the four provincial-level regions – Li Qiang, the Party secretary of Shanghai, Lou Qinjian, the Party secretary of Jiangsu, Che Jun, the Party secretary of Zhejiang, and Li Jinbin, the Party secretary of Anhui – who gave advice and suggestions to the future development plan. 

Xi hailed the delta region as a "driving force" in the economic recovery of the country affected by the coronavirus, and asked them to put more efforts to deepen integrated development while promoting high-quality growth.

Strategic importance

China rolled out a blueprint for the Yangtze River Delta in December 2019 as a further push by the central government to drive growth through regional blocs following the Greater Bay Area plan for southern China. 

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The Yangtze development plan covers one of the country's most dynamic regions, which together make up the most densely populated region in China with at least 220 million people.

According to the latest available official data, the total GDP of the Yangtze River Delta region surpassed 21 trillion yuan (about three trillion U.S. dollars), accounting for about 23 percent of China's total GDP.

Rebound amid global pandemic

China's economy grew 3.2 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to official data, recovering from a record contraction as the government stepped up stimulus to combat the shock from the coronavirus crisis.

China became the first major economy to return to growth since the pandemic swept the world.

Faced with the severe and complex circumstances of a shrinking global economy, Xi put the focus on China's domestic market. In the current external environment of shrinking global markets, we must give full play to the advantages of the domestic super-large-scale market, and add impetus to the country's economic development, Xi stressed.

Referring to the Yangtze River Delta region, Xi said local governments must give full play to advantages such as highly qualified human resources, high-tech sector, manufacture industry and relatively complete industrial chain and supply chain as well as large market.

He called for more efforts to achieve breakthroughs in science and technology, stressing that the region must gain the initiative to innovate and develop. Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui should integrate their technological capacity and strive for breakthroughs in areas such as integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence, he added.

Forefront of reform, opening-up

While stressing on China's domestic market, Xi pledged to further open up and reiterated the country's commitment to globalization.

Faced with the anti-globalization tide, Xi said China will firmly uphold and defend globalization and promote the idea of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

The Yangtze River Delta is the forefront of China's reform and opening-up and local governments must create a world-class business environment that is open, service-oriented, innovative and efficient to facilitate trade and foreign investment, Xi said, adding that the Delta region can "bridge" the Chinese and international markets.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the development and opening-up of Shanghai's Pudong District, he noted, calling for promoting its high-quality reform and opening-up. 

Pudong New Area, a Shanghai district located east of the Huangpu River, used to be occupied by farmland three decades ago. Now it is home to over 1,000 financial institutions, over 300 regional headquarters of multinationals and more than 240 foreign-invested R&D centers. 

Xi said supporting pilot reforms to strengthen Pudong's role in global resources allocation and improve its governance is of strategic importance for the integrated, high-quality development of the Yangtze River Delta. 

He also called for efforts to build Shanghai into an international financial center. 

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Vice Premier Han Zheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the leading group for promoting the integrated development of Yangtze River Delta, also attended the symposium. 

(With input from Xinhua)