China plans to build sci-tech innovation community in Yangtze River Delta

China has issued a plan to build a globally influential science and technology innovation community in the Yangtze River Delta.

Efforts will be made to enhance the regional collaborative innovation capability of the Yangtze River Delta and build the region into one for original innovation and high and advanced industries, striving for turning the region into an influential science and technology innovation community in the world.

A modern and internationalized sci-tech innovation community is expected to be completed by 2025, and it is expected to become a world-leading sci-tech innovation community by 2035, the plan says.

In building the Yangtze River Delta sci-tech innovation community, full play will be given to the leading role of Shanghai as an innovation center and efforts will be made to strengthen innovative advantages of other regions in the delta area and enhance innovation cooperation, the plan says.

The plan proposes joint efforts on building high-level innovation bases and key sci-tech infrastructure clusters, as well as collaborations on basic research, applied basic research and core technologies for key fields.

The Yangtze River Delta is one of the country's most economically active, open and innovative regions, and produces about one-fourth of the national GDP.