The sun rises every day, and human civilization will continue to progress. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to the globe and added new variables to the world’s unprecedented changes in a century, we live on the same planet and will eventually return to the right track of economic globalization, openness and cooperation for mutual benefits after challenges gradually ease. Yangtze River Delta national strategy and development opportunities in the region to the north of Shanghai In today’s global economic competition, several obvious issues deserve our attention. The construction of urban agglomerations and regional integration has become a global trend. There are five recognized urban agglomerations in the world today, namely the Atlantic urban agglomeration in the northeast of United States, the Great Lakes urban agglomeration in North America, the Pacific coast urban agglomeration in Japan, the British urban agglomeration and the northwest urban agglomeration of European. Since the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening-up, China has rapidly promoted and basically realized industrialization and urbanization. China now has three urban agglomerations that are developing towards world-class urban agglomerations, namely the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The most promising should be Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration. The bay-area economy is a prominent highlight in today’s international economic landscape and a prominent symbol of the world’s advanced coastal cities. The Technology Bay Area in San Francisco, the Financial Bay Area in New York, the Industrial Bay Area in Tokyo and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area in China are known as the world’s four largest bay areas. Due to its special comprehensive advantages, the bay area has become the place that lures various high-quality resources with regard to the economy, science and technology, industry, and talent. Who is at the center of the world? The core of the game between land rights and ocean rights is to control the logistics routes worldwide. Whoever has mastered the routes and gates in the world economy and energy transportation will have control over the world’s economic and security lifelines. The logistics capacity of the seaport and airport has become the core competitiveness of a country to participate in economic globalization. What is the endogenous growth driver of the economy in the future? The Nobel economics prize winner Paul Romer believes that in the long-term growth model of endogenous technological changes, technological progress will be the core of economic growth. The major economies in the world are seeking breakthroughs in technological innovation to achieve economic transformation and upgrading. As China is vigorously advancing to achieve high-quality development, the fundamental lies in the vitality, innovation capability and competitiveness of the economy. Some scholars have conducted a comparative analysis of the economic development of Shanghai and Tokyo. Results showed that the Tokyo Bay Area is home to one-third of Japan’s population, and produces two-thirds of the country’s total economic output and three-fourths of the industrial output value, making it Japan’s largest industrial urban agglomeration, international financial center, transportation center, business center and consumer center. Shanghai’s population is twice that of Tokyo, and its area is three times that of Tokyo, but Shanghai’s GDP is 3.82 trillion yuan, or only half of that of Tokyo. Why? For a long period of time, Shanghai has pursued the “single-center” approach of endogenous self-development, which has led to excessive concentration of resources, industries and populations towards the center of the circle, thus restricting the city’s development space and potential. According to the plan issued at the beginning of the year to implement the “Outline of the Yangtze River Delta Regional Integrated Development”, Shanghai is stepping up efforts to draft the greater urban space coordination plan, focusing on the “1+8” region, namely Shanghai and Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Nantong, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Zhoushan and Huzhou, to build an open and coordinated spatial pattern, strengthening connectivity in functions, logistics and environment, and promoting regional spatial coordination and integrated development. The “1+8” region has a land area of approximately 54,000 square kilometers, with a permanent population of approximately 70.7 million in 2018. In order to develop a new spatial pattern, Shanghai, as a core city, needs to strengthen its capability to unite and support cities in the region, with regard to innovation, services, collaboration and integration. The city should also effectively transfer some functions of the central city to the metropolitan area and even to Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration. The city should accelerate the free flow of various elements in the metropolitan area. In the “1+8” regional spatial pattern, the city with the strongest comprehensive capacity to undertake functions is Nantong to the north of Shanghai. New missions under major national development plans include the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and the Hainan Free Trade Zone. The core of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development is fostering the coordinated development of the three places as a whole, transferring the core non-capital functions, solving Beijing’s “big-city disease”, adjusting and optimizing the urban layout and spatial structure, building a modern transportation network, and expanding the environmental capacity and ecological space. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area is comparable to the New York Bay Area, San Francisco Bay Area and Tokyo Bay Area. It is an important space carrier for the country to build a world-class urban agglomeration and participate in global competition. The Hainan Free Trade Zone is a new attempt, new practice and new model for further opening up to the outside world. The “Outline of the Yangtze River Delta Regional Integrated Development” clarifies the strategic positioning of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta. In summary, it is closely linked to the two keywords of “integration” and “high quality” to create “one pole, three areas and one highland”. The aim is to leverage regional integrated development to make the Yangtze River Delta region a strong and active growth pole of the country’s economic development. Also, the Yangtze River Delta will become a model area for high-quality economic development in the country, a leading area for basically realizing modernization, and a demonstration area for regional integrated development. It is expected to become a new highland for reform and opening-up in the new era. Raising the regional integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta as a national strategy has great regional driving and demonstration effects. It will drive the development of the entire Yangtze River Economic Belt and East China, and form a high-quality regional cluster. According to the international experience of the development of human society, due to natural factors and transportation convenience, large rivers and estuaries nurture urban civilization. As early as the beginning of Pudong’s development and opening-up, I interviewed a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He raised a proposal at that time to develop and build Nantong together with Pudong’s development and opening-up in a bid to create the “leader” of the Yangtze River. If you compare Shanghai to the “upper jaw” of a dragon, then Nantong is the “lower jaw”, and Suzhou is the “tendon”. If only one side is well developed, the dragon won’t be powerful enough at “biting”, so that it may fail to play a leading role to drive the region’s growth. The integration of the Yangtze River Delta will rewrite the map of regional economic development. The most noteworthy is that the integration and development of Shanghai, Suzhou and Nantong will be increasingly strengthened, and they can be deeply integrated to become the “Golden Triangle” of the Yangtze River Delta region and a “leader” along the Yangtze River. Nantong’s dreams about the bridge and port Lan Shaomin, Party secretary of Suzhou, said when he worked in Nantong in 2006 the city would make every effort to build the Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong “Golden Triangle” to make Nantong a sub-central city to the north of Shanghai. Within the Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong “Golden Triangle”, Shanghai is the leader, with Suzhou and Nantong as the north and south wings. It is not a fictitious concept, but would actually play a role in stimulating the economy. In addition to a “big bridge dream”, Nantong also has a “big port dream”. The construction of Nantong port is experiencing big changes. The river port is becoming a sea port, and the fishing port is becoming a large port. Xu Huimin, Party secretary Nantong, said that in the past there was a quote that could summarize Nantong’s situation — “relying on the river, the sea and Shanghai”. Now, it should be changed to “connecting to the river, the sea and Shanghai.” Traffic problems have always been a bottleneck in the development of Nantong. In the outline of the Yangtze River Delta regional integrated development plan announced by the central government, some major projects will be launched to address the transportation problems in Nantong. In the context of the overall layout of the national strategy, the Greater Tongzhou Bay has been emerging. On December 1, 2019, the “Outline of the Yangtze River Delta Regional Integrated Development” was officially released, which proposed the “planning and construction of a new estuary in the Tongzhou Bay of Nantong for container transportation along the Yangtze River”. The “Implementation Plan in Jiangsu Province of the Outline of the Yangtze River Delta Regional Integrated Development” announced on April 1 this year made it clear that the provincial plans to build a new estuary for container transportation of the Yangtze River in Tongzhou Bay, Nantong, and strive to become an important part of the world-class port cluster in the Yangtze River Delta. Nantong aspires to be “one leader and three pioneers”. That is to seize opportunities and magnify advantages in the national strategy, and strive to become the leader to drive the rise of Jiangsu’s coastal area. Nantong will strive to be the pioneer to drive open-mindedness and leapfrogging development, the pioneer of high-quality development in the province, and the pioneer in moving ahead with undertakings in the new era. The city will integrate into south Jiangsu in all directions, connect with Shanghai in all directions, and promote high-quality development in all directions. The city also needs to answer the “four questions” of its development in the new era. Faced with new opportunities, are we ready? Faced with the output of a trillion yuan, are we ready? Faced with big projects, are we ready? Faced with the competition to be a pioneer, are we ready? The Greater Tongzhou Bay has entered an important strategic opportunity period of high-speed development in an all-round way, and has become a strategic project to drive overall growth, in which Nantong aims to be a leader in Jiangsu’s coastal area and achieve high-quality development. From a philosophical level, it is necessary to identify the relationship between human beings and the world such as thinking and existence, consciousness, and matters. To the south of Nantong, there are Shanghai Port and Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, and Jiangsu is also a major port province. Why do we need plan the Greater Tongzhou Bay from such a high-level perspective with detailed and grand plans? It can be understood from at least four dimensions. Global vision: Tongzhou Bay has its unique geographical advantages. It serves as the gateway to the vast Pacific Ocean in the east, and faces the urban agglomeration in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River in the west; it sits in proximity to the international metropolis of Shanghai in the south, and connects the hinterland of the vast central and northern Jiangsu plain in the north. Drawing on the experience of bay areas’ economic development, building the Greater Tongzhou Bay is a decision made at the right place and the right time, and abides by the forward-looking trend of the global economy and human civilization. National strategy: The combination of strategies, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Yangtze River Delta’s regional integration and the coastal development of Jiangsu are in place to optimize the agglomeration and amplification of policy effects. The planning and construction of Nantong Tongzhou Bay’s new sea gate for Yangtze River container transportation is an important measure to better serve the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, guide the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, support the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, and forge Jiangsu’s most dynamic and new growth point. Jiangsu vision: Constructing a “rich, strong, beautiful and high-quality” Jiangsu and taking the lead in high-quality development are the goals and pursuits of the province’s development in the new era. On May 30 last year, during the Jiangsu-Japan Open Cooperation and Exchange Meeting held in Tokyo, Lou Qinjian, Party secretary of Jiangsu Province, depicted Nantong as Jiangsu’s new growth point in the future and a new sea gate in the making. This new sea gate refers exactly to Tongzhou Bay, which is located in the northern wing of the Yangtze River Delta. It is set to substantially become Jiangsu’s “leading” port, further integrate and improve the intermodal transportation system connecting seas, rivers and lakes, strengthen cross-river interconnected development, and strive to become an important part of the world-class port group in the Yangtze River Delta region. Nantong responsibilities: It is conducive to giving Jiangsu full play its role as a conjuncture of the Belt and Road Initiative, deepening the two-way opening of land and sea, participating in international competition and cooperation, and promoting high-quality development of the regional economy. It is conducive to giving Tongzhou Bay full play to the strategic anchoring role in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, adding a convenient channel for cities along the Yangtze River to “connect seas and rivers”, and enhancing the leading role of the Yangtze River Delta in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It is conducive to giving Tongzhou Bay full play to its function as the Asia-Pacific gateway, constructing a pattern that allows the connection of “railways with ports, inland rivers with docks, ports with oceans”, maximizing Shanghai’s central role as an international shipping center, and fully integrating itself into the building of a world-class Yangtze River Delta port cluster system. It is conducive to giving full play the comparative advantage of Nantong’s direct access to rivers and seas and accelerating the rise of Jiangsu’s coastal areas. What’s “new” about Jiangsu’s new sea gate? As Jiangsu embarks on turning the Tongzhou Bay into a new sea gate, people would naturally ask: “What’s so ‘new’ about this new sea gate?” Through studying and learning, I believe the rationale lies in the following nine new aspects: First, it is a new signal of opening-up and cooperation with the outside world. Planning and building the Great Tongzhou Bay is essentially creating a new gateway to the Belt and Road Initiative, and leveraging the Tongzhou Bay port area to open up a new sea gate. The plan will also integrate the region into the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, delve into the ocean strategy, and expand the advantages of opening-up to the East. Relying on Sanyang railway and Longhai railway, the Bay is set to materialize a new connection between the eastern coast of Jiangsu and the Eurasia region, and fully participate in the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt. This is a new signal of Jiangsu's opening-up and cooperation to the world amid the tolls on economic globalization exerted by the novel coronavirus outbreak. Secondly, it is a new anchor of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. As the only city bordering rivers and seas in Jiangsu, Nantong’s function of connecting rivers and seas has grown prominent. With the natural advantage of creating a new sea gate for container transportation in the Yangtze River region, it manages to serve the entire Yangtze River basin by going upstream, and tap into the entire world by going downstream. Leveraging the two-way interconnection between seas and rivers, the Bay area provides a truly new efficient and convenient channel for cities along the Yangtze River to go beyond bonders and serve as a strategic anchor along the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Thirdly, it is a new beam of bright colors to the integration of the Yangtze River Delta. Giving full play to its unique location and resources, the port stands to better undertake the major capacity transfer and upgrading of cities along the Yangtze River and the Central District of the Yangtze River Delta, and build a coastal green industrial base and a modern logistics base adjacent to the port. It will stimulate new momentum, inject new connotation and form a new growth point for Jiangsu’s high-quality development that is nation-leading. Fourthly, it is the new replenishment filling the void in the “Oriental Grand Port” strategy. Dr Sun Yat-sen’s blueprint for the so-called “Oriental Grand Port” drawn 100 years ago is turning into reality. Under the “one body, two wings” strategic layout of China’s Yangtze River Delta Port cluster, the ports of Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan firmly occupy the country’s top two spots in terms of throughput. Albeit boasting the highest number of ports nationwide, the “northern wing” Jiangsu port cluster has failed to act as a robust hub or play an outstanding ‘radiating’ role that is comparable to that of southern wing’s Ningbo-Zhoushan port. This newly planned sea gate undoubtedly serves as a huge bonus to the international competence of the “Oriental Grand Port”. Fifthly, it is a new platform for cross-river integrated development. Nantong is striving to become part of the broader southern Jiangsu area, hoping to catch up with the rest of the region by integrating into the Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou city cluster and immerse itself with a homogeneous ecology. The concerted efforts to build a new sea gate, especially through comprehensive and deepened integration with Suzhou, are bound to form a new, cooperative, and win-win platform for cross-river integrated development. Sixthly, it is a new transportation hub connecting rivers, seas and lakes. It is Jiangsu’s natural gift to have rivers, seas and lakes within its territory that could offer superb connectivity. The newly planned sea gate is designed to develop interconnected transportation across rivers, seas, highways and railways, deepen the adjustment of transportation structure, and tackle the construction difficulty in Yangtze River Delta’s inland river container transportation system. By maximizing the strengths of a comprehensive set of transportation means, the region gets to lead the higher-quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, further lower the manufacturing cost of Jiangsu, strive to translate the province’s geographical advantage into that of transportation, competition and development. Seventhly, it is the new engine in the hinterland of north and central Jiangsu. Nantong regards Shanghai as the benchmark for development, the southern Jiangsu region as its coordinate, and the central and northern areas as sources of pressure. Faced with both role models and chasers, the city should play a radiating role in leading the development of central and northern Jiangsu, such as cities like Yancheng that enjoy late-mover advantages. Only by doing so can the city realize the constant upgrade of integration to the south, connecting with the north, and expanding to the west, so as to make Nantong the strategic anchor along the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the portal city under the northern wing of the Shanghai. In light of this, the planned new sea gate is set to enhance the radiating role of Nantong in the socioeconomic development of central and northern Jiangsu. Eighthly, it is the new increment of the international shipping system. The city shall stick to the two development keys of “integration” and “high quality”, adhere to global vision and world-class standard, and actively promote the interconnection between rivers and seas, multimodal transportation, as well as the integration of ports and industries. The city shall strive to elaborately construct, manage, operate and develop the newly planned sea gate, build first-class facilities, technologies, management modules and services, in a bid to create a new and relatively competitive sea gate with convenient transportation, efficient logistics, facilitated trade services, green ecosystems and a robust economy. With strong support to building a world-class port cluster in the Yangtze River Delta region, it is undoubtedly a new increment to optimize the international shipping system. Ninthly, Nantong is the new element representing rapid growth. As a new growth point of Jiangsu, Nantong is facing new opportunities for rapid economic and social development. By constructing a new sea gate and striving to build an industrial pattern with high-end equipment manufacturing, new material and new generation of information technology as the leading sectors, energy and modern logistics as the support, leisure as the main characteristics, the city shall accelerate its pace towards the agglomeration, rationalization and premiumization of industrial structures, achieve breakthroughs in major projects, nurture large-scale enterprises worth 5 billion yuan, tens of billions of yuan or even hundreds of billions of yuan in scale, and construct industrial clusters with regional characteristics. The organic and integrated development of the port, industries and the city is bound to inject new momentum to Nantong’s takeoff.   People could use some spiritual motivation. Suzhou Party Secretary Lan Shaomin, a Nantong native, has inspired many in Suzhou by recreating a passionate age encouraging entrepreneurship. Lan’s unremitted efforts to pursue innovation and regain development strengths have rejuvenated the ancient city of Suzhou. Choosing Suzhou is a vote of opportunity and success. Such a phenomenon is noteworthy across the city’s ten districts and counties, and has sparked competition among peers. As a Suzhou native, Xu Huimin highly has advocated the use of “aggressive” leaders through enterprising undertakings. To realize the “Three Comprehensives”, learn from the “three secret recipes” of southern Jiangsu and respond to its own “four fundamental questions”, Nantong has no other choice but work hard. That is to say: In order to turn the vision into reality step by step, the city’s leaders need to take the initiative, stay resilient, fight for the cause and carry forward for their dreams. The Greater Tongzhou Bay plan has rallied and gathered momentum, and it is bound to become a hot spot that captures the attention of the Yangtze River Dealt Region, the country as well as the world. Just like what Su Shi, the poet from the Northern Song Dynasty has put it: “People who have made great achievements in ancient times are not just confined to those with superior talents, but also those with perseverance.” Under the unremitting efforts of the progressive and aggressive leadership team full of passion and entrepreneurship, the new, world-class Tongzhou Bay sea gate of Yangtze River containers will surely turn into a beautiful reality on the shore of the Yellow Sea. Source: The Paper, April 30, 2020 Author: He Jianhua, researcher and former vice president of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, chief expert at the Shanghai Cultural Research Center. The article is a synopsis based on a speech he delivered at a seminar on Tongzhou Bay’s new sea gate in Suzhou on April 28.