Zhang Yuchen, Professor of Tongji SEM, Member of National Medium & Long-term Science and Technology Development Planning Regional Innovation Group

Source: Jiefang Daily

Speaking of the regional linkage between Shanghai and the cities of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, people usually think of Suzhou and Jiaxing. These two cities border on Shanghai, and they took the geographical advantage to cooperate with Shanghai. However, with the completion of Sutong Bridge in June 2008 and Chongqi Bridge in 2011, as well as the future operation of high-speed railway along the north shore of Yangtze River and inter-city rail transit, Nantong will also be at the forefront of connecting with Shanghai by virtue of the close adjacency between the two cities.

Inseparable mutual relationship across the river

Enjoying the advantage of sitting just across the river from Shanghai, the development planning of Nantong has always been closely related to the definition of its connection to Shanghai.

Nantong’s early positioning was “North Shanghai”, which can be understood as Shanghai in the north. That’s not an administrative area, but a place which is similar to Shanghai. Some people refer Nantong as “Little Shanghai”, which just means almost the same as “North Shanghai”.

After that, Nantong was also known as “Shanghai North”, which mainly means that Nantong will be integrated into Shanghai and become a part of this international metropolis or its north gateway. In 2016, the 13th CPC Congress of Jiangsu Province proposed to build Nantong as the “North Gateway” of Shanghai, switching from an emphasis on geographical adjacency to a clear functional positioning.

No matter how the title changes, it illustrates a basic fact: deepening and expanding the objective close relationship between Shanghai and Nantong is a beautiful and urgent desire in the depth of people’s hearts.

Since the reform and opening up, especially after entry into the new century, the cooperation between Shanghai and Nantong, especially the industrial transfer from Shanghai to Nantong, derives more from the power of the market. The cooperation has experienced three climaxes:

The first was the industrial restructuring of Shanghai in the early 1990s. At that time, on the one hand, Shanghai vigorously promoted the development and opening up of Pudong Area; on the other hand, it made strategic adjustments to its large and comprehensive industrial structure, and established six pillar industries such as automobiles, electronic information, complete equipment for power station, steel and household appliances. A large part of the textile industry adjusted by Shanghai was transferred to Nantong then. At the same time, Nantong Steel Plant joined Baosteel Group in 1992. After the restructuring, it attracted the investment from Japan Nippon Steel Co., Ltd. and Japan Mitsui & Co., Ltd., and finally established Nantong Baosteel Nippon Steel Co., Ltd. These efforts of cooperation with their separate advantages have achieved a synergistic effect of “1+1>2”.

The second was the opportunity brought by Shanghai 2010 World Expo. In 2002, Shanghai firstly issued the Guidelines for the Oriented Distribution of Shanghai Industrial Industry and revised it every year to promote a new round of industrial structure optimization. Shanghai not only adjusted its six pillar industries, but also boosted the transition from manufacturing-orientation to advanced manufacturing, R&D and service orientation. The adjustment took longer time and had a steady pace, so it gave better play to the role of the market mechanism. As Nantong has a good manufacturing base, Shanghai Soap Group has relocated its production base to Nantong. Yangpu and other districts initiatively signed a cooperation agreement with Nantong to form various forms of cooperation such as “Shanghai Incubation, Nantong Conversion”, “Shanghai R&D, Nantong Production”, “Front Stage in Shanghai, and Backstage Supporter in Nantong” and so on. Nantong has also established friendly relations with Jing’an District and Yangpu District of Shanghai. The two sides have cooperated in all fields of science and technology, health, culture, education and tourism, especially emphasizing the introduction of Shanghai intelligence to serve Nantong.

The third climax was driven by the completion of Sutong Bridge and Chongqi Bridge. In 2008 and 2011, Sutong Bridge and Chongqi Bridge were open to traffic respectively. The opening of these two bridges has greatly accelerated the pace of cooperation between Nantong and Shanghai, which has entered a new stage of development. First, the cooperation between the two cities was promoted to the level of government strategy. In 2009, the Nantong Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government made it a strategic task to undertake the industrial transfer of Shanghai. In that year, Nantong Municipal Government, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission jointly signed the strategic cooperation framework agreement for industrial development. Secondly, the form of cooperation has been effectively expanded. Nantong and Shanghai have attempted to jointly build industrial parks. In 2009, Shanghai and Nantong signed cooperation agreements on 9 industrial parks. Third, the cooperation content has gradually deepened, and Nantong has upgraded itself from undertaking general industrial transfer to attracting R&D institutions. In June 2009, Haimen Yuanda Technology Pioneer Park of Fudan University was successfully settled in Haimen Development Zone with a total investment of 470 million yuan. It has established the State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering of Fudan University (Haimen Center) and Postdoctoral Station of Genetic Science etc. in Haimen, striving to build a research, training, pilot test and achievement transformation base for Fudan University.

Integrated development of Shanghai and Nantong just around the corner

As the role of the metropolitan area becomes more and more important in global competition, the integrated development of Yangtze River Delta region has become an increasingly urgent topic. In May 2016, the State Council approved the Development Plan for Urban Agglomeration in the Yangtze River Delta. In November 2018, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Xi Jinping announced at the first China International Import Expo that China would support the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region and promote it to a national strategy. In recent years, especially after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta has entered a fast track. At the beginning of 2018, Shanghai Master Plan 2017-2035 was officially announced, and Nantong was listed as one of the important cities for Shanghai to build a world-class metropolitan area in the next 20 years. Earlier in May 2017, the People’s Government of Jiangsu Province approved the Overall Plan for the Construction of Nantong as the North Wing Gateway City of Shanghai Metropolis.

Under the new development deployment, Nantong is not only an important base for industrial transfer of Shanghai, but also an important strategic city for Shanghai’s development in the next 20 years. Of course, with the deeper-level adjustment of Shanghai’s industrial structure in the context of the new technological revolution, industrial transfer will advance at a higher level and on a larger scale. For example, in May 2016, Double Coin Group decided to “only retain its headquarters, R&D and marketing center in Shanghai, and fully transfer its production capacity to Nantong”.

In order to truly form the integrated development effect between Nantong and Shanghai, the 8 river-crossing tunnels are currently under intense construction. The Shanghai-Nantong Yangtze River Bridge will be completed by the end of 2019, and the Shanghai-Nantong Railway is scheduled to operate in 2020. Facing such an attractive prospect of urbanization, some companies have already strategically taken the lead in planning to move their R&D headquarters to Nantong. On July 19th, 2019 at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Shanghai Electric Nantong Central Research Institute held at the Central Innovation Zone of Nantong, Zheng Jianhua, Chairman of Shanghai Electric Group, said that the group would make vital adjustments to its strategy and further shift its strategic focus to Nantong. The whole R&D facilities would be transferred to Nantong in the future. In order to adapt to the development needs and improve its urban quality, Nantong has planned a 17-square-kilometer central innovation zone, which will be built into the National Manufacturing Innovation Center, the Science and Technology Innovation Special Zone of Yangtze River Delta Region, and the Supporting Service Zone of Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center.

It can be expected that a new Nantong, which integrates ecological barrier, industrial hinterland, innovation capital and cultural city, will prop up Shanghai’s North Gate with a more splendid image.