In May 2025, at the junction of Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces, the Water Town Living Room and Fangteng Water Courtyard in the Yangtze River Delta Demonstration Zone was completed.
On October 9, the Yangtze River Delta Regional Cooperation Office announced that the "Action Plan for Establishing and Improving Metropolitan Circle Integration Development Systems and Mechanisms to Enhance Yangtze River Delta City Cluster Integration Development" (hereinafter referred to as "the Plan") has been officially issued. The Plan addresses issues through "three focuses," proposing 30 specific tasks and measures across eight aspects, centered on achieving "seven ones" and strengthening organizational implementation.
On the same day, a symposium on promoting Yangtze River Delta metropolitan circle integration development was held in Shanghai, themed "Towards Modern Metropolitan Circles with Both Form and Spirit," where "form and spirit integration" emerged as a new regional development concept.
The introduction of the Plan and the new concept marks a new phase in the Yangtze River Delta integration process - transitioning from infrastructure connectivity to institutional coordination, from urban "clustering" to metropolitan circle integration with "both form and spirit."
The Shanghai Metropolitan Circle encompasses 14 cities within its scope.
**Strategic Upgrade of Yangtze River Delta Integration Through "Seven Ones"**
Data shows that the Yangtze River Delta's GDP share of the national total increased from 23.9% in 2018 to 24.6% in 2024, contributing approximately 26% of China's economic growth over six years. The number of trillion-yuan GDP cities has grown from 6 in 2018 to 9, accounting for one-third of the national total. Regional import and export value exceeded 16 trillion yuan, representing 36.5% of the national total. Additionally, the Yangtze River Delta has formed 26 national advanced manufacturing clusters, including large aircraft manufacturing.
Particularly significant achievements have been made in infrastructure connectivity and other "hard connections." In 2018, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui signed the "Cooperation Framework Agreement for Connecting Inter-provincial Severed Roads in the Yangtze River Delta Region." Over seven years, 16 "severed roads" have been completed and opened to traffic, with the elimination of highway "severed roads" in the region imminent.
The "Rail-connected Yangtze River Delta" is accelerating construction, with investment expected to exceed 130 billion yuan this year. At the end of last year, the Shanghai-surrounding Rail Transit Operation Company was officially established to uniformly manage cross-provincial intercity and metropolitan railways.
However, challenges remain: administrative barriers and institutional differences still constrain integrated development, hindering free factor flow and optimal resource allocation. There are institutional frameworks, but operational efficiency needs strengthening; planning guidance exists, but implementation guarantees are insufficient; there is scale and volume, but central city capabilities require enhancement; spatial forms exist, but key nodes and important axis positioning need clarification.
The Plan focuses on "seven ones": jointly building cross-regional coordinated development "one cluster," jointly weaving infrastructure connectivity "one network," jointly forging technology and industry innovation collaboration "one chain," jointly promoting market environment optimization "one-stop service," jointly implementing high-level opening cooperation "one chess game," jointly using ecological environment protection "one standard," and jointly promoting livelihood service convenience sharing "one card."
Each "one" precisely targets these deep-seated pain points. The core essence lies in transitioning from past hardware connections to institutional rule software connections, from urban clustering to metropolitan circle integration.
This modern version of "unified tracks and standardized writing" aims to fundamentally reduce regional institutional transaction costs through institutional unification and mutual recognition, enhancing overall regional development capacity and efficiency - undoubtedly a critical strategic upgrade for Yangtze River Delta integration.
On September 4, 2025, in Huzhou, Zhejiang, a Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed rail train passes through Shenzhuang Yang waters.
**Metropolitan Circle Integration: Dismantling Invisible Walls**
Currently, the Yangtze River Delta exhibits distinct "city-circle-cluster-region" dynamic structural characteristics. The core engine of Yangtze River Delta integration lies in its six major metropolitan circles: Shanghai Metropolitan Circle, Nanjing Metropolitan Circle, Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou Metropolitan Circle, Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle, Ningbo Metropolitan Circle, and Hefei Metropolitan Circle. They function like six powerful engines whose internal coordination efficiency directly determines the sailing speed of the Yangtze River Delta flagship.
Therefore, positioning "metropolitan circle integration" prominently in the Plan addresses the crux of the issue.
Metropolitan circle integration aims to achieve spatial planning coordination, infrastructure networking, free factor flow, industrial development coordination, public service equalization, and ecological environment co-protection. The "seven ones" proposed in the Plan, such as "one card access," "one-stop online services," and "one market," are precisely the "surgical tools" to dismantle these barriers.
Higher-level coordination mechanisms are being explored in planning alignment, policy coordination, and market supervision. For instance, in industrial layout, homogeneous competition and low-level redundant construction should be avoided, instead forming reasonably divided, differentiated industrial clusters based on comparative advantages.
Barriers often stem from rule differences. Can medical test results be mutually recognized? Are professional qualification credentials interchangeable? Are environmental enforcement standards unified? These details directly relate to the integration experience.
A key task of the Plan is promoting unification and mutual recognition of rules and standards in key areas. This means gradually establishing a regional collaborative standard system covering the Yangtze River Delta in food safety, environmental protection, quality inspection, and certification.
The effectiveness of integration must ultimately be judged by people and market entities. True integration goes far beyond geographical proximity - transportation development has already addressed spatial distance. It represents deep institutional integration and public service equalization.
It means Anhui residents working in Nanjing can directly settle medical insurance at local pharmacies; technology developed in Hefei can be industrialized in Suzhou without barriers. This tangible, perceptible "same-city feeling" is the most intuitive test of integration effectiveness.
Of course, various barriers often reflect complex interest patterns. The Plan emphasizes "establishing and improving metropolitan circle integration development systems and mechanisms," aiming to construct institutional arrangements where all parties benefit from cooperation, achieving "1+1>2" effects. This requires scientific institutional design to ensure sustainable cooperation, making win-win cooperation the conscious action logic of all regions.
The Plan mentions exploring cost-sharing and benefit-sharing mechanisms through characteristic cooperation parks like Nanjing-Huai'an Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park, Hangzhou High-tech Zone (Binjiang) Fuyang Special Cooperation Zone, and China-Singapore Suzhou-Chuzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone.
From international experience, Tokyo Metropolitan Area and Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region provide rich examples of integration. However, the Yangtze River Delta's uniqueness lies in exploring deep integration while maintaining existing administrative divisions unchanged.
Therefore, the Yangtze River Delta's "integration" exploration represents a profound governance revolution and development paradigm transformation. It tests not only economic strength but also the reform courage and wisdom to break conventions and pioneer trials.
The six major metropolitan circles in the Yangtze River Delta region.
**New Vision: Reshaping Metropolitan Circles with "Form and Spirit"**
Currently, Yangtze River Delta integration has entered deep waters, with most easy reforms completed, leaving hard bones to crack. Choosing "metropolitan circle integration" as the breakthrough point represents a strategy of leading large with small - piloting integration institutional innovation within relatively smaller metropolitan circles first, then radiating to the entire Yangtze River Delta after success. This demonstrates extremely pragmatic reform wisdom.
This emerging integration target vision being drawn carries significance far beyond temporary policy adjustments. Against the backdrop of global industrial chain reconstruction and digital economy rise, future city cluster competition will no longer be individual city battles but contests of regional integration levels. Whichever city cluster can more effectively break barriers and achieve optimal resource allocation will gain advantages in new global competition rounds.
The Yangtze River Delta aims to build a strong, active national growth pole and high-quality development model area. This year's central government document "Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Urban Development" proposes that Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city clusters should build world-class city clusters.
Realizing this "world-class" grand blueprint requires solid support from metropolitan circle integration.
Whether various localities and departments in the Yangtze River Delta can use this action plan as an opportunity to truly establish integration awareness and holistic thinking, performing both required and innovative actions while continuously enriching Yangtze River Delta integration connotations through practical exploration, remains to be seen.
From a global perspective, world-class city clusters exhibit distinct "central city-metropolitan circle-city cluster" structural characteristics. When institutional walls are dismantled, regulatory bridges will be built. A more vibrant, efficient, and integrated Yangtze River Delta city cluster will not only play a greater engine role in Chinese modernization but will certainly provide new Eastern examples for world-class city cluster construction.
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