Big plans for Yangtze River Delta as China takes on the wealth gap and pollution

Yangtze blueprint to integrate Shanghai and the three neighbouring provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, but little word on how it will be achieved

Scheme’s fate hinges on getting rival centres and officials to work together to reduce urban-rural divide, analyst says

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Shanghai is at the centre of a plan to integrate the Yangtze River Delta. Photo: Xinhua

Shi Jiangtao,Mandy Zuo,Kristin HuangandPearl Liu

Published: 10:34pm, 2 Dec 2019Updated: 1:33am, 3 Dec 2019

Just months after releasing the Greater Bay Area plan for southern China, Beijing has rolled out another ambitious development plan for the country’s top economic powerhouse – the Yangtze River Delta.

The blueprint is widely regarded as another push by Beijing to drive growth through regional blocs, using them to see the country through unprecedented challenges from slowing growth and the relentless trade war with the United States.

The Yangtze plan covers Shanghai and the three neighbouring provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, which together make up the most densely populated – and most affluent region – in China, accounting for one-sixth of the country’s population, or at least 220 million people.

Observers said they believed that President Xi Jinping, a former Communist Party chief of Shanghai and Zhejiang, was personally behind the integration plan.

Xi promised in November 2018 that the plan would become a national policy, on a par with his signature Belt and Road Initiative.

The region has long been seen as a jewel in the crown of China’s economic transformation, with a total economic output of 21 trillion yuan (US$3 trillion) by the end of last year, or a quarter of the national gross domestic product. But it has come at a huge environmental price, with widespread water, soil and industrial pollution.