Xinhua News Agency released a notice yesterday that President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance held in Shanghai and deliver a keynote address, sending another important signal that China will keep advancing the development of artificial intelligence and deepen international sci-tech cooperation.
This seemingly minor revision marked by a parenthesis signifies that sci-tech competition has evolved from rivalry between individual cities to coordinated development within a regional innovation community as a whole.
Innovation is no longer a one-man show staged by a single city, but collaborative innovation that transcends administrative boundaries, links industrial chains and pools diverse resources. From basic research to the commercialization of scientific achievements, and from technological breakthroughs to industrial application, an increasing number of innovative outcomes are being delivered through joint efforts across the Yangtze River Delta.
Driven by the rapid growth of industries including artificial intelligence, life sciences, new energy and advanced manufacturing, the translation of scientific research findings from laboratories to the marketplace requires joint participation from multiple parties and links, such as research institutes, manufacturers, capital markets and real-world application scenarios. Scientific and technological innovation has moved beyond reliance on isolated breakthroughs and evolved into a systematic project bolstered by the coordinated development of an innovation community.
The Yangtze River Delta stands as one of China’s most representative innovation communities.
Covering less than 4 percent of China’s land area, the Yangtze River Delta generates nearly a quarter of the country’s total economic output, with its aggregate GDP close to that of Germany, the world’s third-largest economy. Key innovation indicators including R&D spending and the number of authorized invention patents each account for roughly one-third of the national total.
*Source: Anhui Academy of Innovation and Research
The continuously pooled resources of talent, technology, capital and industry are forming an innovation network that covers basic research, technological tackling, achievement commercialization and industrial application.
In the future, it will be the entire Yangtze River Delta, rather than Shanghai alone, that competes in global science and technology competition.
More importantly, the Yangtze River Delta has fostered a complete and efficient innovation chain.
The Yangtze River Delta is home to 37 Double First-Class universities, 132 national key laboratories, 25 major national science and technology infrastructure facilities as well as 26 national-level advanced manufacturing clusters. Industries including new energy vehicles, biomedicine, artificial intelligence and integrated circuits lead the country in industrial scale.
Shanghai focuses on basic research and acts as a source of scientific and technological innovation, serving as a pivotal cradle for original technologies. Boasting the country’s most comprehensive manufacturing system, Jiangsu accelerates the industrialization and market application of research achievements. Relying on its strengths in the digital economy, Zhejiang keeps advancing future industries such as artificial intelligence, robotics and space-air information. Anhui has secured constant breakthroughs in original innovation in quantum technology, fusion energy and deep space exploration.
*Construction site of the Compact Fusion Energy Experimental Device (BEST, full name: Burning plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak) in Hefei Future Science City, Anhui Province
Source: The Paper Commentary; Photo by Xinhua News Agency
Cities across the region are not engaged in homogeneous competition; instead, they have formed a highly complementary division of labor system along the innovation chain and industrial chain.
From the “0-to-1” original research breakthroughs in laboratories to the “1-to-N” scaled industrial development, the Yangtze River Delta has forged an integrated whole of innovation chains and industrial chains. This not only opens up broader application scenarios for innovative achievements, but also delivers sustained innovative momentum for industrial growth.
In recent years, the Yangtze River Delta has kept promoting the open sharing of innovation resources. Centering on the coordinated development of key industries including artificial intelligence, integrated circuits and biomedicine, the G60 Sci-Tech Corridor has driven in-depth cooperation between nine cities and the Shanghai Academy of Sciences, covering 31 projects in artificial intelligence, biomedicine and high-end equipment sectors. The corridor is home to 13 percent of the country’s high-tech enterprises and 20 percent of STAR Market listed companies nationwide.
*The G60 Sci-Tech Corridor of the Yangtze River Delta originates in Songjiang District, Shanghai, and links nine cities across Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.
Source: The Paper Commentary; Photo: Visual China
With steady progress in the development of the Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta) International Science and Technology Innovation Center, innovative resources, industrial resources and international cooperation opportunities are further converging in the Yangtze River Delta region.
As the core carrier area for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, the Hongqiao area links Shanghai and the three provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. Designated by the state as the core zone of the Hongqiao International Open Hub, it can swiftly connect abundant research institutes, universities, industrial parks and manufacturing enterprises across the delta. Meanwhile, it serves as a gateway to global innovation resources, international capital and cross-border cooperation networks, enabling more efficient venues for the exchange, exhibition and collaboration of innovative achievements.
*Source: Shanghai Science and Technology
To be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) from November 20 to 22, 2026, Hongqiao Tech Week thoroughly responds to the strategic arrangements laid out in the national 15th Five-Year Plan concerning the development of Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center and the integrated growth of the Yangtze River Delta. Centering on six major technology tracks including AI, Future Mobility & Energy, Digital infrastructure, Industry 4.0, Life Science & Health, and Startup, the event brings together global tech enterprises, research institutes, investment institutions and industrial partners. It explores future technological trends, boosts coordinated industrial innovation, accelerates the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, and builds a platform for international exchanges and cooperation.
In addition, partnering with the innovation hub of the Yangtze River Delta, Hongqiao Tech Week will launch a VIP industrial park tour across the Yangtze River Delta. Participants will visit benchmark leading tech enterprises in the region to gain first-hand insights into their development models and innovative achievements.
As mounting innovation resources converge in the Yangtze River Delta, Hongqiao Tech Week, as an open, diverse and international exchange platform, will unlock more opportunities for cooperation and growth for science and technology enterprises.
【About Hiongqiao Tech Week】
Hongqiao Tech Week will host its inaugural edition at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) from November 20 to 22, 2026. Under the theme of Global Tech Visions Empowered by China’s Momentum, the event brings together worldwide enterprises, visionary leaders, startups, investment institutions and cutting-edge solution providers. By integrating conferences, exhibitions, cultural experiences and high-end networking in an in-depth manner, it aims to forge transformative partnerships and identify pivotal technologies poised to reshape industries across Asia and the globe.