Yangtze Delta to see more green, high-quality development

China is ramping up efforts to foster green and high-quality development for the Yangtze River Economic Belt during the next five years, the country's top economic regulator said on Friday.

Luo Guosan, director of the Department of Infrastructure Development of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the leading group office for promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt is making intensified efforts to build a "1+N" policy system for the economic belt, in which "1" is the guiding development plan and "N" the detailed scheme of various sectors.

Luo told a news conference in Beijing that the group will work with relevant parties to accelerate the push for the implementation of the development plan for the Yangtze River Economic Belt during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.

According to him, the group will also make a big push to work with relevant departments to formulate and issue related supporting plans and policies in fields such as ecological protection, green and high-quality development and transportation governance mechanisms.

So far, six plans for the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt have been approved for issuance, and seven other plans and policies will be released soon, including a revised negative list banning certain industries from the region.

The sprawling Yangtze River Economic Belt consists of 11 provinces and municipalities and covers more than 2 million square kilometers. The region also accounts for around 21 percent of China's total land area and more than 40 percent of China's total population and GDP, official data showed.

Citing the development plan for the Yangtze River Economic Belt during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, Luo said by 2025, the region will witness considerable progress in fields including ecological protection as well as the green transformation of economic and social development, playing an increasingly important role in supporting high-quality development in the nation.

The plan has mapped out a series of tasks in fields such as strengthening ecological and environmental protection, promoting green and low-carbon development and boosting innovation-driven growth.

Under the plan, more efforts will also be made to work on a negative list system for the region, adjust and optimize the energy structure, promote the green transformation of key industries, make breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum information, and promote the upgrading of manufacturing.

Luo also highlighted the importance of boosting the connectivity of transportation infrastructure, saying it is a key move to promote high-quality development in the region.

According to the 14th Five-Year plan for the comprehensive transportation system of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, by 2025, a comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network and transportation service system will essentially be completed.

By 2035, the economic belt will witness the establishment of a modern comprehensive transportation system that is cost-effective, smart, green and safe.