The demonstration zone for the integration of the Yangtze River Delta
called for the participation of different parties to pilot green growth
in the region during a developers' conference in Shanghai on Wednesday. The zone sits at the border of Shanghai and two neighboring provinces
with an area of 2,300 square kilometers. It will lead the
implementation of the region's integration, a national strategy
announced by President Xi Jinping in 2018. Li Qiang, secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the
Communist Party of China, said in his opening speech at the conference
that rice and fish have been abundant in the area since ancient times.
He added that the demonstration zone should embody the concept of
sustainable development, break down administrative barriers and
accelerate innovation. "The area will be a land of miracles, and to achieve our goals we
need a group of ambitious developers with passion and entrepreneurship,"
he said. Twelve entities founded a developers' alliance during the conference,
including companies such as Huawei and Alibaba; academic
representatives from Fudan University and the China Academy of Urban
Planning and Design; and financial institutions such as the US-China
Green Fund and the China International Capital Corporation. The China Three Gorges Corporation will serve as the first rotating chair of the alliance. Wang Lin, general manager of the Three Gorges company, said the
corporation will work with other members to explore ways to develop the
delta while protecting the environment. Also during the conference, officials from the National Development
and Reform Commission, Shanghai and the city's two neighboring provinces
called for design plans for a 35-square-kilometer area called "The
Living Room of the Jiangnan Watertown", which is located in the middle
of the demonstration zone. "We are looking for ideas across the globe that can incorporate
international standards with Chinese characteristics in building an
environmentally sustainable watertown," Duan Jin, an academician of
Chinese Academy of Sciences, said during his keynote speech on the
guiding principles of the development of the area. Duan added that details about the submission will be released online on Thursday. A slew of developmental projects and agreements were signed during
the conference, including the creation of an integration index to assist
policymaking, a collaboration agreement between design and urban
planning institutions, and the integration of healthcare systems among
Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang and Anhui. Xia Kejia, director of the Shanghai municipal healthcare security
bureau, said they have completed a cross-city medical expense system in
more than 5,000 hospitals in all the 41 cities in the Yangtze River
Delta last year. "By July, around 2.1 million patients have used that direct payment
service with total transactions of 17.5 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) in
medical expenses," Xia said. Xia added that the bureaus are working on removing other inconveniences. For example, they are seeking a resolution that would enable people
to pay for healthcare in other cities in the zone by using their health
insurance. Currently, people who visit hospitals outside of the city
where they pay their premiums must pay for medical procedures out of
pocket, or apply for insurance in the city where they are receiving
care. Liu Jun, president of Bank of Communications, said the bank will
provide financing services to green projects in the delta region, such
as upgrading environmental protection equipment and reinventing
traditional industries. "We believe being green has its value," Liu said.
|