Further promoting the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, further enhancing the innovation ability, industrial competitiveness and development level, and taking the lead in forming a new pattern of reform and opening up at a higher level are of great significance for China to build a new development pattern, promote high-quality development, and comprehensively promote the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation with Chinese modernization. On November 30, 2023, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader delivered an important speech when presiding over the symposium on further promoting the integration development of the Yangtze River Delta, put forward clear requirements and made important arrangements for promoting new major breakthroughs in the integration development of the Yangtze River Delta, and provided an action guide and fundamental follow-up for promoting the Yangtze River Delta to take the lead in Chinese modernization and give better play to its role of exploring the road, leading the demonstration and radiating. Strengthening the cross-regional cooperation between scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation is the key to the continuous exploration and coordinated development of the Yangtze River Delta in the process of high-quality integrated development. To promote the cross-regional coordination of "two innovations" as a whole, we should take the important instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary as the guide, focus on strengthening the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, focus on promoting the cross-regional and cross-departmental integration of science and technology resources, and focus on strengthening open thinking and participating in international scientific and technological cooperation.
First, strengthen the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation to better link the Yangtze River Economic Belt and radiate the whole country.
Innovation is the first driving force for development. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the General Secretary of the Supreme Leader has attached great importance to innovation and development, put forward a series of new ideas and new theories around accelerating the all-round innovation with scientific and technological innovation as the core, and sketched out the strategic path for China to accelerate the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance and build a strong country in science and technology. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader stressed that "the Yangtze River Delta region should strengthen cross-regional coordination of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. Vigorously promote scientific and technological innovation, strengthen the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, promote new industries, new formats and new models, expand new development space, foster new development momentum, and better link the Yangtze River Economic Belt and radiate the whole country. " To strengthen the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, it is necessary to put the promotion of original innovation ability in a more prominent position, focus on key areas, optimize the allocation of innovation resources, and improve the overall efficiency of the innovation system.
Focus on basic research and strengthen original innovation. Basic research is the source of the whole scientific research system and the source of scientific and technological innovation. Strengthening the core position of scientific and technological innovation in the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta inevitably requires putting basic research in a more prominent position and constantly strengthening the top-level design and forward-looking layout of basic research fields. Based on the advantages of science and education resources in the Yangtze River Delta, efforts should be made to strengthen the discipline construction and personnel training in basic research fields such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, and constantly promote new industries, new formats and new models, so as to promote more "0 to 1" breakthroughs in the Yangtze River Delta and provide basic support for promoting the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation.
Focus on key areas and strengthen integrated development. As an important town of scientific and technological innovation in China, the Yangtze River Delta region has played an extremely important role as the main force in tackling key core technologies in China. At present, China still faces the problem of "sticking its neck" in some core areas and key links. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader stressed, "Only by mastering the core technology in our own hands can we truly grasp the initiative of competition and development and fundamentally guarantee the national economic security, national defense security and other security." We should focus on key areas such as brain-like intelligence, quantum information and genetic technology, and improve the construction of platforms such as national laboratories, national technology innovation centers and national engineering research centers, promote the centralized research of industrial common technologies and key core technologies, promote the Yangtze River Delta to achieve more "from 1 to 100" transformation, and promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation at a high level.
Focused areas are linked to strengthen radiation driving. An important goal of integrated development is to solve the problem of unbalanced regional development. Strengthening the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation in the Yangtze River Delta region will play a positive role in promoting new industries, new formats and new models, expanding new development space and cultivating new development momentum in the Yangtze River Delta region, and will help to better play the role of exploring the road, leading the demonstration and radiating. To enhance the Yangtze River Delta’s ability to better link the Yangtze River Economic Belt and radiate the whole country, on the one hand, it is necessary to give full play to Shanghai’s leading role, further strengthen the leading demonstration and regional linkage role of the "five centers" in the hinterland of the Yangtze River Delta and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and strive to improve the high-quality development level of the Yangtze River Delta region; On the other hand, the three provinces and one city should give full play to their strengths, promote the development of division of labor, cooperation and integration, and enhance the radiation-driven ability to other regions of the country with the integration within the Yangtze River Delta region. Promote industrial innovation with scientific and technological innovation, especially with subversive technology and cutting-edge technology to promote new industries, new models, new kinetic energy and develop new quality productivity. We will improve the new national system, implement high-quality development actions of key manufacturing industry chains, strengthen quality support and standard guidance, and improve the resilience and safety level of the supply chain of the industrial chain.
Two, promote the integration of scientific and technological resources across regions and departments, and create a source of scientific and technological innovation.
Speeding up the breakthrough of key core technologies and creating a source of scientific and technological innovation is an inevitable requirement for China to promote high-quality development and enhance its international competitiveness. When presiding over the third collective study in the 20th the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader emphasized that "it is necessary to properly handle the relationship between the new national system and the market mechanism, improve the system of scientific and technological evaluation and incentives, application and transformation of achievements, and remuneration of scientific and technological personnel that match the long period of basic research, and support a number of basic research innovation bases, superior teams and key directions for a long time, so as to create original innovation sources and basic research pioneers." The integration of innovation resources focuses on cross-region, and the difficulty is also cross-region. To build the Yangtze River Delta into a source of scientific and technological innovation, we need to strengthen the awareness of "integration", establish the idea of "playing a chess game", make efforts to promote the integration of scientific and technological innovation forces and superior resources across regions and departments, and strengthen the guarantee of institutional mechanisms.
Efforts will be made to promote cross-regional integration of innovative resources. To create the source of scientific and technological innovation, it is necessary to break the administrative barriers between regions. We should give full play to the comparative advantages of various places in the Yangtze River Delta, focus on the cross-regional co-construction and sharing of science and technology platforms such as the National Technology Innovation Center of the Yangtze River Delta and scientific devices such as the ultra-short laser 10 Paw user device and the high-efficiency low-carbon gas turbine test device of the Shanghai Light Source Station Project (Phase II), and rely on the industrial chain, supply chain and innovation chain cross-regional layout of key industries such as integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence to promote the free flow and optimal allocation of science and technology resources in the Yangtze River Delta, and strive to build a regional innovation community and accelerate the formation of regional linkage.
Focus on promoting cross-departmental integration of innovative resources. To create the source of scientific and technological innovation, it is necessary to break down the organizational barriers between departments. We should give full play to the main role of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation, guide key scientific and technological enterprises to carry out in-depth cooperation with domestic and foreign universities, research institutes, upstream and downstream enterprises and relevant scientific and technological service institutions, create an innovation consortium with innovative resources coordination, supply chain interoperability and industrial chain sharing, promote the complementary advantages, achievement sharing and risk sharing of all innovative subjects, and strive to enhance the resilience and vitality of industrial chain, supply chain and innovation chain.
Efforts will be made to strengthen institutional and institutional guarantees. Building a source of scientific and technological innovation requires a strong institutional guarantee. Combined with the current development reality, we should focus on constructing the normalization mechanism of basic research, strengthening the effective incentive of scientific and technological talents, and creating an innovative environment that tolerates failure, so as to create a more friendly scientific research atmosphere for scientific and technological talents to play a leading role in original innovation and basic research, and promote the Yangtze River Delta to accelerate its development into a source of scientific and technological innovation that gathers high-end innovation elements and promotes original achievements.
Third, uphold the open concept and cooperative thinking, and create an innovative ecology with more global competitiveness.
Innovation is not a one-man show, but a chorus. This is a systematic project involving government, market, scientific research institutes, intermediary organizations and enterprises. Report to the 20th CPC National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly put forward, "Insist on the core position of innovation in the overall situation of China’s modernization". When presiding over the 27th meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader stressed that it is necessary to "create a good innovation ecology and stimulate the vitality of innovation subjects". To promote the Yangtze River Delta region to create a more globally competitive innovation ecology, we need to uphold the concept of openness and cooperative thinking to steadily promote institutional opening, and attract global innovation elements to participate in co-construction with a perfect innovation ecological service system and a first-class business environment.
Steadily promote institutional opening. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader stressed that "the Yangtze River Delta region should actively promote high-level collaborative opening. We will promote high-level opening up with an emphasis on institutional opening up, strengthen mutual learning and replication of reform experiences, and strive to become a powerful engine for smoothing China’s economic cycle and a strategic hub for connecting domestic and international dual cycles. " Institutional opening is an important content of high-level opening to the outside world and an important path for innovative ecological construction. We should give full play to the role of Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone in piloting and leading the demonstration, and take the lead in connecting with the international community in terms of rules, regulations, management and standards, so as to provide experience and make a good demonstration for promoting institutional opening in the Yangtze River Delta region and even the whole country. Accelerate the improvement of the institutional environment conducive to the construction of innovation ecology, focus on building an institutional mechanism facing the global scientific and technological frontier and national strategic needs, and lay a good institutional foundation and policy environment for promoting international scientific and technological cooperation.
Construct an innovative ecological service system. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader stressed that it is necessary to "integrate scientific and technological innovation forces and superior resources across regions and departments, realize strong alliance and create a source of scientific and technological innovation" and "participate in international scientific and technological cooperation with more open thinking and measures, and create an innovative ecology with more global competitiveness". The innovative ecology with global competitiveness cannot be separated from the innovative ecological service system with global competitiveness. To build an innovative ecological service system, it is necessary to build a life-cycle financial service system to provide accurate financial services for different stages of enterprise growth; It is necessary to build an all-round scientific and technological service system and provide personalized scientific and technological services for the differentiated needs of enterprise innovation and development; It is necessary to build an industrial service system of the whole industrial chain, and provide sufficient factor guarantee and industrial policy support for different links of the industrial chain supply chain.
Create a first-class business environment. Creating a market-oriented, rule-based and international first-class business environment is an important guarantee for accelerating the formation of an innovative ecology with more global competitiveness. To create a first-class business environment, we need to focus on serving the development of the real economy and promoting the construction of an innovative ecosystem, and continuously optimize the market-oriented environment; It is necessary to promote fair market competition and continuously optimize the business environment ruled by law; It is necessary to continuously optimize the international business environment with the goal of gathering international high-end factor resources.
(Author: Party Secretary and Dean of Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences, deputy director of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought Research Center, the supreme leader of Jiangsu Province, and director of Jiangsu Regional Collaborative Innovation Center for Rule of Law Development)
Editor in charge: Zhang Shaoyi