"At present, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region has become a national strategy. Under this background, Pudong, Nanjing and other cities and districts in the Yangtze River Delta have a new mission in promoting the linkage development of regional economy and finance," said Zhang Hong, director of the Pudong New Area Financial Services Bureau. 

"The signing of the strategic cooperation agreement is a broader cooperation between the Yangtze River Delta region with financial industry as the link. It is of great significance for the complementary and integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region," She added. 

Zhu Changhui, deputy secretary-general of the Nanjing Municipal People's Government, said that the financial integration of the Yangtze River Delta should assume more responsibilities for the development of regional integration, which is also an inherent requirement of regional self-financing development. 

Cities and districts in the Yangtze River Delta should strengthen coordination and cooperation, optimize resource allocation, further enhance the power and efficiency of financial services in the Yangtze River Delta region, and jointly create an expanded environment that supports the real economy, the private economy and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

He pointed out that cities should also strengthen their ability to nip financial risks in the bud to maintain the stability and security of the financial ecology in the Yangtze River Delta region. 

The financial integration of the Yangtze River Delta region has entered a new era of cooperation and sharing. Pudong has taken the lead in cooperating with the Shanghai Stock Exchange to build the Yangtze River Delta Capital Market Service Base. 

Xia Xiaobo, director of the Pudong International Financial Research and Exchange Center, introduced at the forum that serving the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region is the highlight of the Shanghai free trade zone's recent financial work. 

He said that the Yangtze River Delta Capital Market Service Base will explore new working mechanisms in technology finance, business incubation, venture capital and technology collaboration, and encourage enterprises in the region to strengthen by making greater use of the capital market.

The next step is to carry out a number of related activities focusing on listing, roadshows, debt financing services, equity financing docking, information release and credit sharing. 

He further stated that Pudong will combine its financial resource endowment advantage with market demands in the Yangtze River Delta region and rely on the platform of the Yangtze River Delta regional financial market to help more outstanding science and technology enterprises enter the fast track of the capital market. It will deeply explore the financial function of the Shanghai free trade zone as it radiates throughout the Yangtze River Delta region. 

More cities and districts in the Yangtze River Delta are also in action. Li Fangyi, member of the Standing Committee of Nanjing's Jianye district revealed that financial cooperation is an important part of the financial integration of the Yangtze River Delta region. Jianye district will further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the cities in the region, help establish the Yangtze River Delta financial market, promote the cross-regional flow of finance, continuously raise the level of financial activity and effectively promote the integrated development of the region. 

At present, Pudong's financial market system is nearing perfection. It has 13 national financial market factors and good infrastructure. Pudong has more than 1,000 licensed financial institutions and more than 10,000 financial institutions. 

In addition, it also has nearly half of the country's foreign-funded corporate banks and foreign-invested insurance institutions. The number of futures companies and other institutions also ranks first in the country. 

In 2017, Pudong achieved an added value of 269.9 billion yuan ($39.3 billion) from the financial industry, a year-on-year increase of 11 percent and 50.6 percent of Shanghai's total market.

Skyscrapers dominate the skyline of Pudong New Area in Shanghai. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]