The Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District Administrative Commission and the Minhang District People's Government unveiled an action plan to jointly build a manufacturing research and development cluster for the Yangtze River Delta region and advance the coordinated development of sci-tech and industrial innovation across the region.

The plan aims to transform a 48-square-kilometer area within Hongqiao International CBD's Minhang section into a leading innovation hub for the YRD region, with a focus on biopharmaceuticals, new energy, and emerging automakers.

Under the plan, the cluster will encourage manufacturing companies from across the YRD region to establish R&D centers, creating a development model in which production remains distributed across the region while R&D activities are concentrated in Shanghai's Hongqiao area.

A tiered space supply system will be introduced, ranging from single rooms to floors, buildings, and land parcels. Single rooms will support early-stage preparation, proof-of-concept work, and lab-scale trials; floors will support pilot trials, high-level incubators, and public innovation service platforms; buildings will house R&D headquarters and vertical industrial ecosystems; and land parcels will meet enterprises' integrated needs for R&D headquarters and high-end manufacturing.

Authorities will release spatial resources in phases, including premium office buildings in the Hongqiao hub area and quality self-built facilities developed by selected landholding enterprises in the Qianwan area. Industrial land reserves will also be prepared for R&D centers of YRD manufacturing enterprises and of upstream and downstream companies linked to selected high-quality landholding enterprises.

The plan seeks to address key challenges hindering innovation collaboration within the YRD region's manufacturing sector, while strengthening cooperation among major regional cities in sci-tech innovation.

Cross-regional use of innovation vouchers will also be supported, enabling small and medium-sized technology enterprises to access scientific data, testing and inspection services, and other research and technology services across the YRD region.

The initiative also aims to promote the sharing of innovation resources by integrating cutting-edge equipment from universities, research institutes, and industry leaders. This will facilitate open access to major scientific instruments in biomedicine, new materials, integrated circuits, and smart manufacturing.

The plan also highlights the importance of attracting and nurturing high-end talent, including by facilitating entry-exit, residence, and work permit procedures for foreign professionals. Collaborative projects among universities, research institutes, and industry will be encouraged to build a strong reserve of sci-tech talent.

The cluster is also expected to draw on Hongqiao's role as a key Belt and Road hub and a leading area for Silk Road e-commerce to provide one-stop services for enterprises going global, including legal services, overseas exhibition and sales support, international exchange, cross-border payment services, cross-border data services, overseas mergers and acquisitions services, and cross-border capital services.

Anchored by the Grand NeoBay venture fund, a multilevel fund system covering angel investment, venture capital, and industrial investment, together with coordinated investment, loan, guarantee, and support services, will provide enterprises with one-stop financial services. The plan also supports mergers and acquisitions by R&D centers in the cluster and provides incentives for developing and validating new technologies and scenarios.

In addition, the plan will offer full-lifecycle support for R&D centers in the cluster, including policy consultation, human resources services, business registration, and tax services, while streamlining administrative procedures and facilitating efficient matching of industrial supply and demand across the YRD region. The development of application scenarios will also be supported, enabling enterprises to test and validate new technologies in real-world environments.

Note: The English text is for reference only. In case of any discrepancies, the Chinese version shall prevail.

Sources: Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District Administrative Commission, Minhang District People's Government