Yangtze River Delta Think Tank Alliance meeting held at XJTLU

'The XIPU Institution Forum: Yangtze River Delta Think Tank Alliance Preparatory Meeting' was held at XJTLU. More than 20 experts from various fields discussed topics such as the overall ideas and mechanisms of Yangtze River Delta collaborative innovation, the new trends and new routes in the New Era, and a lack of internationalisation in Yangtze River Delta integration.

The Yangtze River Delta Think Tank Alliance was advocated by Professor Zhiyue Bo, executive vice-president of New Era Development Research Institute (NEDRI) at XJTLU and dean of the XIPU Institution.

He said: “The Yangtze River Delta Think Tank Alliance needs to integrate all the think tank and expert bank resources to provide consultation and individualised research for governments at all levels and the corporate alliance at the Yangtze River Delta. At the same time, the think tank alliance can hold a series of activities on Yangtze River Delta integration.”

Professor Youmin Xi, executive president of XJTLU, attended the ceremony and delivered an opening speech. He pointed out that the main subjects of the Yangtze River Delta Think Tank Alliance were also among the current four key topics of NEDRI, which include: studying the development of the Yangtze River Delta, and the transformation and upgrading of regional society to promote the integration process of this region.

Professor Xi emphasised: “We will integrate the NEDRI, XIPU Institution, International Innovation Port and International Technology Transfer Centre into an important social brand for XJTLU.”

Professor Qiuling Chen from Shanghai University shared her opinions on the overall ideas and mechanisms of the Yangtze River Delta Think Tank collaborative innovation. She said:

“After the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping put forward the new strategic ideas on regional development which require that instead of domestic comprehensive planning we adopt more interactions between China and other countries. I think we need to build a number of think tank brands that are internationally influential so as to guide the development of regional economic integration in the Yangtze River Delta.”

Na Li, associate researcher from Urban and Demographic Studies at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, delivered her speech on the new trends and routes of the Yangtze River Delta in the New Era.

She noted that compared with other integration strategies in China, the Yangtze River Delta integration has its unique advantages in transportation and tourism:

“As for the current problem of industrial upgrading, internally, the provinces and cities within the Yangtze River Delta need to strengthen their cooperation to enhance competence, and externally the location of Yangtze River Delta is unique so that the development of integration should be deepened comprehensively.” She added.

The Yangtze River delta is the first region where the economy developed comprehensively after Reform and Opening in the 1980s, which is famous for its strength in technology and industry. Furthermore, the finance and service industries in this region are well developed, and the infrastructure (port logistics) and talent resources are also competent. These advantages are helpful for the region in improving its productivity and capacity.

There has been much research about the advantages of the Yangtze River Delta but few are about the problems brought by the accelerating industrialisation and development in the past decades.

The Yangtze River Delta Think Tank Alliance plans to carry out research on the following topics: energy supply and natural resource shortages; environmental degradation and food safety; public health issues; land and labor costs; possible approaches of the economic model turning from labor-intensive and export-oriented to innovation-oriented; and cultural cooperation and innovative development models.

Professor Bo said: “The Yangtze River Delta Think Tank Alliance has the potential to become the centre of knowledge and interest for all stakeholders in government and enterprises to deal with the development problems in the Yangtze River Delta and other regions.”

By Guojuan Wang and Yanzi Wu, photos by Haochen Wang

Translation by Boqiang Xiao, edited by Qiuchen Hu and Danny Abbasi