(Profile Photo: VCG)

Based on the integration of common cultural genes and economic scenarios, people and entrepreneurs in Qingpu, Wujiang, and Jiashan have long laid a solid foundation for integrated development with actions.

Now, a large number of cross-border cooperation is being promoted in the demonstration area, pushing the integration development into a higher level.

Controversy and consensus: more tacit integration

The breeding season of water hyacinth starts in May every year. The villagers of Wujiang and Jiashan along the Taipu River on the border of Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang take the initiative in the division of labor to salvage water hyacinth by region.

It is a tacit understanding for the villagers to jointly maintain a good ecological environment. However, fundamentally solving the problem of cross-provincial ecological co-governance and forming a long-term mechanism is much more complicated than jointly entering the water and cleaning up the river.

"Heated arguments appear in every meeting," says Yang Wenmin, deputy head of the Ecological and Planning Construction Group of the Executive Committee of the demonstration area, however, he thinks it is not a bad thing.

It is in such an argument that Qingpu, Wujiang, and Jiashan are acting around a common goal of constructing a "world-class ecological lake region". Among the first 33 key projects in the demonstration area, Jiashan will invest 2.873 billion yuan to launch the comprehensive improvement project of river and lake water system; in Wujiang, 60 million yuan will be invested only in the ecological transformation of pond breeding; Qingpu and Wujiang will jointly build the ecological landscape coastline of Huanyuan Shallow Lake to govern the river network together.

Cooperation and competition: more powerful integration

During the interview in the demonstration area, the reporter received a WeChat message from a publicity cadre from Wujiang, "Please help me find a piece of Zhejiang Daily on April 12, 1983".

In that issue of Zhejiang Daily, the front page published a commentator's article "Learning from Wujiang and striving for the advance again". At that time, in the National Silk Quality Evaluation, enterprises from Wujiang won four national first prizes. As a result, silk enterprises from Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Shaoxing went to Wujiang to learn technology and management.

The history of cooperation and competition between Jiangsu and Zhejiang triggered by silk still seems vivid today. However, today's competition is not only a "single event" between some enterprises from some regions of China but also a "group competition" for China to participate in global competition.

Recently, the Economic and Information Department of Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang and the Executive Committee of the demonstration area jointly issued the “Admittance criteria for industrial projects in the pilot start-up zone in the eco-green integrated development demonstration area of Yangtze River Delta (Trial)”, which has achieved the implementation of unified admittance criteria for industrial projects in cross-provincial administrative regions for the first time in China.

Individuality and generality: more active integration

More than 10 ancient towns in the demonstration area applied for world cultural heritage in 2016. The ancient towns, however, are now facing the problems of a single project, serious commercialization, and overall similarity.

Xitang and Lili are exploring "individuality and generality"--the ancient town of Lili is characterized by the display of folk collection art, while Xitang focuses more on life-oriented display. The convenient bus transfer points are available at the gate of the two scenic spots.

"Just like listening to plays, Suzhou Pingtan, Shanghai Opera and Zhejiang Yue Opera have their own characteristics. It will be monotonous if there is only one tone." Consensus has been reached at the meeting: it is the integration of individuality and generality that counts.

(Compiled by Xu Yuhong)