The second-largest city in Zhejiang is accelerating its integration with Shanghai.

According to Zhejiang Daily and "Chao News", on January 7, Wang Cheng, Deputy Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Ningbo Municipal Party Committee, led a delegation of Ningbo's Party and government officials to Shanghai for a study and inspection tour. This was Wang Cheng's first out - of - province inspection since taking the post of Secretary of the Ningbo Municipal Party Committee, and also the first cross - provincial learning trip of Ningbo's Party and government leaders in the new year.

During his stay in Shanghai, Wang Cheng inspected the Site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the "Modu Space" innovation ecosystem community, and the Huawei Lianqiuhu R & D Center successively. He also held a symposium with representatives of well - known Shanghai natives from Ningbo, listening to their opinions and suggestions on connecting with Shanghai, integrating into the Yangtze River Delta, and accelerating high - quality development.

At the symposium between the two places, the main leaders of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee said that they hoped to strengthen communication and docking, deepen complementary advantages, focus on the mission of promoting the construction of the Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta) International Science and Technology Innovation Center, promote the in - depth integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, and jointly build a world - class industrial cluster. Wang Cheng also mentioned that Ningbo will deepen cooperation with Shanghai in major scientific and technological research, industrial cluster building, transportation facility interconnection, and cadre and talent exchange, effectively boosting the high - quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and better serving the overall national development situation.

It is not difficult to find that both the itinerary arrangement and the content of the symposium of Ningbo's Party and government delegation's trip to Shanghai are filled with a strong "scientific and technological innovation atmosphere".

At the "Modu Space" innovation ecosystem community, Wang Cheng said that Ningbo should learn from Shanghai's good experience and practices, and do a good job in the "two major articles" of the integrated reform and development of education, science, and talent, and the in - depth integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation.

At the Huawei Lianqiuhu R & D Center, Wang Cheng emphasized that to achieve the goals of the 15th Five - Year Plan, Ningbo must look at the world, raise the benchmark, "look at Ningbo from outside Ningbo", and enhance its competitiveness through regional linkage and cooperation.

Currently, Ningbo's economic development is facing certain challenges.

As early as 2021, Ningbo set the goal of "striving to achieve a GDP of over 2 trillion yuan and enter the top 10 in the country by 2025". Based on its economic aggregate of 1.81 trillion yuan in 2024, the GDP growth rate in 2025 needs to exceed 10% to achieve the goal.

From the first three quarters of 2025, both the industrial and foreign trade sectors in Ningbo are under certain pressure, with a GDP growth rate of only 5.0%. It is very likely that it will take more time to achieve the original goal.

Wang Cheng previously said in an interview with local media that to achieve a good start in the 15th Five - Year Plan and better play a leading and driving role, Ningbo will focus on four aspects, with the most important one being to highlight the in - depth integration of the "two new" (new technologies and new industries). Specifically, it is necessary to build a first - class innovation ecosystem, focus on increasing innovation investment in scientific research platforms, talent introduction and cultivation, concept verification centers, pilot - scale platforms, and science and technology business incubators, and promote the accelerated transformation of innovation achievements.

Not long ago, the Central Economic Work Conference arranged for the construction of three international science and technology innovation centers. In addition to the Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area, Beijing and Shanghai are extended to the Beijing - Tianjin - Hebei region and the Yangtze River Delta respectively. Relevant officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology revealed that they will further optimize the spatial layout of regional scientific and technological innovation, with Shanghai as the leader, closely linking innovative cities such as Nanjing, Hangzhou, Hefei, Suzhou, and Ningbo, comprehensively strengthening cross - regional collaborative innovation, and improving the overall efficiency of the regional innovation system.

This layout clearly includes Ningbo in the high - level innovation network under the guidance of national strategies, opening up new opportunities for it in scientific research cooperation, industrial upgrading, and talent aggregation. In this regard, Ningbo's trip to Shanghai is not only for learning but also for early planning, aiming to actively connect with scientific and technological innovation resources and seize the opportunity of collaborative development.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Urban Evolution Theory", author: Liu Yanmei, published by 36Kr with authorization.