China to Prioritize Yangtze Delta Development

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Oct. 17 – China’s National Development and Reform Commission said that growth in the Yangtze River Delta region will be prioritized with the aim of making it a world-class urban cooperative by 2020.

The region includes Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu spanning only 2.1 percent of China’s territory but producing 22.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. The area’s business output contributes 31.5 percent to the national fiscal income and attracts 35 percent of total foreign investment to the country.

The development of the Yangtze River Delta region is seen as vital as the domestic economy matures amid the global economic downturn. It also serves as a role model for other regions in the nation to follow.

The region will pave the way in addressing challenges such as how to develop innovation, improve the economic structure, integrate regional infrastructure construction, and resource conservation.

“It will be built into a portal of the Asia Pacific, an important base for the advanced global manufacturing industry and a competitive international urban agglomeration by 2020,” Du Ying, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a press conference.

Recent reports have said that businesses in Zhejiang have been closing as a result of the international financial crisis. During the first half of the year alone, more than 1,200 firms closed down.

Chinese exporters have been forced to cope with the appreciating yuan, slowing world demand and rising production costs.

During the press conference, Zhejiang’s Deputy Governor Chen Min’er said that while medium and small businesses had failed, the problem was not as severe as reported in local newspapers, reports Xinhua.

“Firms in difficulties are mostly small and medium exporters or processing firms,” Chen said. “External factors have played a role, but these firms also have problems themselves, such as product structures and management efficiency.”

In September, Shanghai’s industrial output growth decreased by 6 percent in from an average 11.5 percent while trade volume in Zhejiang and Jiangsu slowed from the same period last year.

For more information on the region, please check out the forthcoming China Briefing Regional Guide to Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta, priced at US$25 plus p&p. The book details Shanghai and the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhenjiang as well as the cities of Changshu, Changzhou, Hangzhou, Hefei, Nanjing, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shaoxing, Suzhou, Taicang, Wenzhou, Wuxi, Yangzhou and Zhangjiagang.

Orders can be made through sales@china-briefing.com. Inquiries or assistance with investment in the region can be directed to Dezan Shira & Associates at info@dezshira.com.