(Yicai) June 18 -- The new high-speed railway loop in the Yangtze River Delta Region will promote infrastructure integration, tourist attraction development, and talent exchanges in the region, according to a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The train will also affect companies’ business layout, Chen Yao told Yicai. Firms that cannot afford expensive land in first-tier areas can now move to cheaper neighboring areas, as the improved transportation system allows them to still attract more talents, technologies, and resources, he added.

The first train on the high-speed Yangtze River Delta Region loop departed from Shanghai on June 15, connecting the city with Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Anhui provinces. Trains along the loop travel for more than 1,200 kilometers in eight hours and nine minutes, stopping in seven cities with gross domestic product of over CNY1 trillion (USD137.8 billion) and well-known scenic spots, including Huangshan Mountain, Mount Jiuhua, and Qiandao Lake.

Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui signed cooperation deals on 10 projects in the Yangtze River Delta Region at the sixth High-Level Forum on Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta on June 6. In terms of infrastructure, they agreed to promote the integration of inter-provincial, inter-city, and intra-city railways.

Editor: Futura Costaglione