What can 20 minutes, 12 minutes and one millisecond make possible?

In 20 minutes, a low-altitude flight can take passengers from Taicang in east China's Jiangsu Province to Shanghai's Pudong district, roughly 70 kilometers away by road. In just 12 minutes, an industrial robot can roll off a production line. And one millisecond is all it takes for data to travel across a computing network.

The figures offer a glimpse into a region where closer integration is turning geographical proximity into economic and technological strength.

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD), located along China's east coast around the lower reaches and estuary of the Yangtze River, is one of the country's most vibrant, open and innovative city clusters. Comprising Shanghai Municipality and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, the region is home to about 17% of China's population while covering just 4% of the country's land area. In the first quarter of this year, its combined GDP approached 8.5 trillion yuan ($1.26 trillion), accounting for more than one-fourth of the national total.

Recognizing the enormous potential of coordinated regional development, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the decision to make the integrated development of the YRD region a national strategy in November 2018. "We will make it a national strategy and implement our new development philosophy in real earnest. We will build a modern economic system, and adopt higher standards for reform and opening up," Xi said while addressing the opening ceremony of the First China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

Guided by the strategy, the region has reaped major benefits and matured into a pacesetter of high-quality development from its integrated development.

Integration coordinates regional strengths

In August 2020, President Xi led a symposium in Hefei, Anhui Province, to outline specific measures for advancing the YRD's integration. It was the first such meeting since the strategy was elevated to a national priority. Xi emphasized the need for a deeper understanding of the delta's role in China's economic and social growth and better promote the region's coordinated development amid serious and complex challenges.

This vision is becoming real in the economy.

The production of a humanoid robot offers a telling example. The work begins in Shanghai, where the company handles research and development and final assembly. Just over 100 kilometers to the west, Changzhou and Wuxi in Jiangsu supply key components, from motors to joint modules. Further south, Jiaxing in Zhejiang provides multimodal data training and algorithm development. And some 400 kilometers to the west, Bengbu in Anhui supplies core hardware, including self-developed six-axis force sensors.

The close industrial links have created a collaboration network across the region – for one humanoid robot maker, an order can go from placement to shipment in less than a day, while key suppliers can respond within hours. The cycle from research and development to mass production has also been cut from more than a year to around six months.

By leveraging their respective strengths and working in close coordination, the YRD cities are linking previously dispersed industrial resources into integrated supply chains and strengthening the overall competitiveness of the industry.

The region's economic strength has continued to grow alongside this integration. In 2025, the YRD's combined GDP reached 34.66 trillion yuan, up 5.4% year on year in comparable terms and accounting for about 24.7% of China's total economic output.

Innovation drives high-quality development

Eyeing high-quality, sustainable, and long-term development, Xi has repeatedly emphasized innovation in the region's development plan. Chairing a symposium on November 30, 2023, in Shanghai, he again highlighted the need to strengthen cross-region collaboration in sci-tech and industrial innovation.

The region is encouraged to become a source of sci-tech innovation by integrating innovative forces and resources across areas. Recently, science and technology departments in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui have jointly established the YRD science and technology innovation community office. In May, the region launched an action plan for the community, promising to sign a coordinated legislative framework for science and technology innovation, establish a joint fund, and roll out 29 collaborative research projects, including real-time millisecond-level intelligent 6G wireless technologies.

By June 2025, the YRD had established 26 national-level advanced manufacturing clusters, accounting for 32.5% of the national total and covering sectors such as large aircraft, biomedicine, new materials and high-end equipment, further cementing its role as an industrial upgrade hub. The region's R&D intensity, which measures R&D spending as a share of GDP, increased from 2.81% in 2018 to 3.34% in 2023.