(Yicai Global) Nov. 15 -- A green regional economic development zone in China’s Yangtze River Delta has begun work on 108 projects with total investment of CNY563 billion (USD80 billion) since it was set up three years ago, a senior local government official revealed today.

The Yangtze River Delta Integrated Ecological and Green Development Demonstration Zone, which spans Shanghai and the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, has also developed 112 innovations, of which 38 have been replicated by and promoted in other domestic fields, Hua Yuan, deputy secretary general of the Shanghai government and head of the zone's executive commission, told reporters.

The Shanghai-Suzhou-Jiaxing intercity rail link, which broke ground in July, is one of the 108 projects. Once finished, the 170-kilometer railroad will enhance transport links within the delta region, according to Chen Jianzhong, the demonstration zone’s deputy director. 

Other key projects the zone has advanced include a research and development center in Shanghai’s Qingpu district invested in by tech giant Huawei Technologies, and an innovation center Zhejiang University built in Jiashan county of Jiaxing city. These projects show the green economy, digitization and scientific and technological innovation are the zone's future development direction, Chen added. 

The zone, inaugurated in November 2019, covers about 2,300 square kilometers across Shanghai's Qingpu district, Suzhou's Wujiang district and Jiaxing's Jiashan county and is dedicated to building an area featuring eco-friendly and integrated regional economic development. 

In the last three years, the zone averaged economic output growth of 7.4 percent a year, with mean annual industrial output growth of 10.9 percent. By the end of last year, the number of national-level high-tech and new tech firms in the zone rose 31.5 percent from 2020 to 2,411, data disclosed in a press release showed. 

Editors: Dou Shicong, Tom Litting