Foreign trade of China's Yangtze River Delta tops 100 tln yuan

The latest data shows that as of May this year, the cumulative import and export volume of the Yangtze River Delta region has reached 101.2 trillion yuan (about 14.12 trillion U.S. dollars) over the seven years since the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta was elevated to a national strategy, highlighting the region's strong economic resilience and vitality.

According to customs statistics, in the first five months of this year, the Yangtze River Delta region's import and export volume reached 6.73 trillion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 5.2 percent and setting a new record high for the same period in history.

In the first five months of this year, machinery and electronic products accounted for nearly 60 percent of the Yangtze River Delta region's total export value. Among them, integrated circuit exports reached 211.16 billion yuan, up 19.3 percent year on year. Automobile exports totaled 146.41 billion yuan, an increase of 14 percent. Exports of industrial robots reached 2.08 billion yuan, representing a significant year-on-year growth of 58.8 percent.

The Yangtze River Delta is home to 26 national-level advanced manufacturing clusters, covering a wide range of fields such as large aircraft, marine engineering equipment, and high-tech ships. These clusters have become a key foundation for driving the region's goods trade toward medium- and high-end development.

"High-tech industries and high-end manufacturing are the main driving forces behind foreign trade in the Yangtze River Delta. One out of every two industrial robots exported nationwide is manufactured in the Yangtze River Delta. High-tech products such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence have been exported to over 200 countries and regions worldwide, and the scale of foreign trade continues to grow," said Li Jirong, deputy director of the Department of Statistics and Analysis of Shanghai Customs.

In the first five months of this year, the Yangtze River Delta region's imports and exports with ASEAN and the European Union, its main trading partners, reached 1.07 trillion yuan and 1.02 trillion yuan respectively, representing year-on-year increases of 16.9 percent and 3.9 percent. Meanwhile, the region's total trade with Belt and Road partner countries reached 3.36 trillion yuan, up 10.1 percent year on year.

"Over the past seven years, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui have closely focused on the two key words of 'integration' and 'high-quality." They have continuously deepened industrial collaboration, innovation cooperation, resource sharing, and the flow of production factors, constantly injecting new momentum into the high-quality development of regional foreign trade," said Lian Junwei, a researcher at the Zhejiang Development and Planning Institute.

Foreign trade of China's Yangtze River Delta tops 100 tln yuan

Institutional opening-up, a key topic at this year's two sessions and in the 15th Five-Year Plan, is fundamentally about establishing long-term effectiveness through systematic, nationwide efforts rather than fragmented, short-term actions, said a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) on Friday in Beijing.

The "two sessions", a major event in China's political calendar, refer to the annual meetings of China's top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), and the top political advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Peng Shou, also an academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, explained that by developing comprehensive pilot frameworks in free trade zones like Shanghai and the Hainan Free Trade Port, China is transforming fragmented policies into cohesive systems, such as addressing processing VAT to boost high-tech industries; and exploring the expansion of models like negative lists and digital infrastructure to create a more transparent and predictable environment for global partners.

"I believe that a system is about long-term effectiveness, it's not a short-term move, and not fragmented. It's not about handling isolated cases, but about involving everyone, the whole society," said Peng.

China has built a series of comprehensive testing grounds for institutional openness.

With 22 free trade zones covering the entire country, a full-scale pilot framework has been established. Especially in free trade zones like Shanghai and the Hainan Free Trade Port, China has launched over 110 innovative, integrated pilot measures.

"Turning previous fragmented small policies into a systematic framework is key. For example, the issue of processing and value-added tax is well addressed. By incorporating processing technologies and adding value, it drives the development of high-tech industries," said Peng.

Such models could also be promoted in other regions.

Peng also said that the Hainan Free Trade Port's special customs operations can be used as a great example.

"We may apply this negative list model to some cities or development zones. Additionally, we can focus on digital infrastructure, using AI and digital technology as a foundation in cities like Beijing and Shanghai," he said.

At its core, institutional opening-up is not just about aligning with global standards; it's about creating a more open, transparent, and predictable environment that attracts global partners, according to Peng.

By embracing this new model, China is not only enhancing its position in the global market but also reshaping its own economic future, he added.

NPC deputy emphasizes long-term, systematic impact of institutional opening-up strategies