Yangtze River Delta should leverage regional advantages to support nuclear industry: CPPCC members

The Yangtze River Delta in affluent east China should leverage its regional advantages to accelerate sci-tech innovation and support development of the nuclear industry, said members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The 358,000-square km Yangtze River Delta expanse in east China, about the same size as Germany, encompasses the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Shanghai Municipality. It is one of the country's most economically invigorating and innovative regions.

In separate interviews with China Media Group (CMG), CPPCC members highlighted the region's advantages in developing the nuclear industry, calling for collaborative efforts among technical teams.

"The Yangtze River Delta region has first-mover advantages, as many industries have participated in the nuclear fusion research and development process early on. The growth of the nuclear fusion industry is expanding. In the materials industry, there are three to five publicly-listed companies in Jiangsu alone. Meanwhile, there are also many subsidiaries of centrally-administered state-owned enterprises in the region, which are actively participating in projects related to functional components and special materials," said Yan Jianwen, a CPPCC member.

"China still lacks sufficient technical teams in the field of nuclear fusion. If we don't divide the work and collaborate, and make full use of the existing strong teams, our development will be constrained. Therefore, we urge everyone to unite in addressing this challenge. In addition, the development of the industry requires the engagement of enterprises. Early participation from enterprises is conducive to breaking through bottlenecks in key technologies and industrial and supply chains," said Duan Xuru, another CPPCC member.

"Choosing a location for a nuclear power plant is a difficult task, and we have stringent requirements. We hope to set up some computing centers around our nuclear power plants as their energy demand is huge," said Lu Tiezhong, another CPPCC member.

As this year's government work report outlines plans to develop Beijing (as part of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in north China), Shanghai (as part of the Yangtze River Delta), and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in south China into international centers for scientific and technological innovation and turn them into world-class innovation engines, a CPPCC member from Hong Kong also highlighted the importance of enhancing the metropolis' contributions.

"We should make a good use of Hong Kong's advantages to better support the country. One suggestion is for Hong Kong to accelerate the development of an international supply chain management center, providing a better platform for the country's overseas expansion. Secondly, we should accelerate the 'dual circulation' development of the Greater Bay Area, positioning Hong Kong as a platform for both inbound and outbound investment, helping mainland enterprises go global and assisting foreign-invested enterprises in entering the domestic market," said Lo Kam Wing.

The CPPCC National Committee is China's top political advisory body, serving five-year terms and holds a plenary session each year.

The fourth session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee opened in Beijing on March 4 and is scheduled to run through March 11.

Yangtze River Delta should leverage regional advantages to support nuclear industry: CPPCC members

China's general public budget revenue reached 6.16 trillion yuan (about 897 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of this year, up 2.4 percent year on year, marking the fastest growth for the same period in three years, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.

The central government collected about 2.5 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue during the period, up 2.7 percent year on year, while local governments collected 3.66 trillion yuan, up 2.1 percent.

"In the first quarter, the growth rate of China's general public budget revenue was 1.7 percentage points higher than in the first two months of the year and also outperformed the levels seen in the same period over the past three years. This reflects a strong and good start of China's economy in the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030)," said Wang Jianxun, director of the ministry’s Treasury Payment Center.

Tax revenue during the period totaled 4.85 trillion yuan, up 2.2 percent, while non-tax revenue rose 2.9 percent to 1.31 trillion yuan.

"Domestic value-added tax (VAT) revenue rose 4.9 percent year on year, driven mainly by growth in the industrial and service sectors and a narrowing decline in the producer prices. Revenue from VAT and excise tax on imports increased by 12.9 percent, reflecting a strong start in foreign trade. Revenue from stamp duty on securities transactions surged 78.1 percent, fueled by active stock market trading and higher turnover. Export rebates for VAT and excise tax reached 791.1 billion yuan, an increase of 36.2 billion yuan, or 4.8 percent, providing solid support for export growth," said Wang.

On the spending side, China's fiscal expenditure expanded 2.6 percent year on year to 7.47 trillion yuan in the first quarter, with the budget execution pace hitting a five-year high.

"Health care expenditure increased by 12.1 percent, mainly due to the centralized distribution of childcare subsidies and increased subsidies for the basic medical insurance fund. Social security and employment spending rose by 9 percent. Expenditure on urban and rural communities grew by 2.8 percent, while spending on housing support increased by 6.3 percent," said Wang.

China's Q1 general public budget revenue growth hits three-year high