A bird's-eye view of an industrial park jointly developed by Hai'an and Shanghai [Photo/WeChat account: hafbwx]

Hai'an, a county-level city in Nantong, has been pursuing industrial transformation and has attracted a number of promising projects in recent years in an effort to boost the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region.

The county-level city has brought in a series of key projects from Shanghai involving intelligent equipment manufacturing, automobile components, and electronics information. Shanghai is also a part of the YRD region.

Four years ago, Shanghai Sandman Foundry Co decided to carry out a project involving automobile components in Hai'an, costing over 1 billion yuan ($141.30 million). The factory began operating that same year, and additional investment and subsequent phases were then pursued.

"What most attracted us is the close cooperation between Hai’an and Shanghai," said Tiao Yingxin, general manager of the company. "Also, the improved transportation network, good investment environment, and high-quality services are appealing to investors."

In recent years, the Shanghai Yangpu (Hai'an) Industrial Park and Shanghai Fengxian (Hai'an) Industrial Park, focusing respectively on automobile components and new materials, have become models for Hai'an's cooperation with Shanghai.

The Chang'an Textile Technology Park, jointly established by Hai’an and Changshu, now boasts nearly 30 upstream and downstream enterprises involved in high-end textiles.

Zhou Xiaojun, director of Hai'an's development and reform commission, said that the county-level city will study the experiences of southern Jiangsu province and work toward the high-quality development and integration of the YRD region.