(Yicai Global) Aug. 10 -- The Yangtze River Delta Integrated Ecological and Green Development Demonstration Zone has made some progress in four years, attracting entreprises, investors and eco-tourists to the area in eastern China.

The zone, which stretches across major bodies of water in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu province, has achieved results in economy, ecology, and transportation after four years of development, Yicai Global learned yesterday.

The area has been in the making for a while. President Xi Jinping put forward the Yangtze River Delta integration strategy connecting Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu during the first China International Import Expo in 2018. The zone was inaugurated in November 2019.

Even before completion, the zone is gaining some traction. The Yuandang Lake ecological restoration project has already attracted tourists from the surrounding areas and Shanghai, receiving up to around 5000-6000 tourists on weekends, head of the project told Yicai Global. 

The third stage of the Yuandang Lake project will be finished by year-end. The lake is 12.9 square kilometers with a shoreline of 23 km. The third stage with an investment of around CNY580 million (USD85.8 million) aims to improve the condition of the remaining 3.1 km of shoreline.

The green zone invests about CNY94 billion (USD13.9 billion) to build a 170-kilometer Shanghai-Suzhou-Jiaxing Railway connecting Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces as well as Shanghai. The Shanghai section is around 49 kilometers and is built by Shanghai Shentie Investment. The first phase began construction in mid-July and is designed to be connected with Shanghai’s subway network.

The two provinces and the megacity city joined hands with the zone’s executive committee to issue a green financing plan in November, said Gu Qi, deputy head of the business and industry department of the committee. The zone more than doubled its outstanding balance of green loans in late June from a year ago. The funds go toward intellectual property, new energy vehicles, and other green purposes.

The provinces and the city have separately issued guidelines on carbon emissions, and financial institutions in the zone have begun to grant innovation loans such as those related to carbon pledges.

Many banks have entered the area. Suzhou Rural Commercial Bank has a green finance laboratory, and China Construction Bank has set up a pilot bank for green finance in the zone. Meanwhile, China Pacific Insurance and other insurers have formed a green insurance community to provide companies in the area with their services.

The Yangtze River Delta region is one of China’s economic centers. It has eight cities whose economic output exceeds CNY1 trillion (USD148 billion). The gross domestic product of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shanghai makes up around one-quarter of the nation's total.

Editors: Shi Yi, Emmi Laine