Three visits in half a year: What does Nanjing learn from Guangzhou and Shenzhen?

According to Nanjing Daily, from June 9th to 10th, Zhou Hongbo, the Secretary of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee, led a delegation to Guangzhou and Shenzhen for an inspection. They visited leading enterprises in the industry and conducted exchanges and discussions on implementing the regional coordinated development strategy and deepening government - enterprise cooperation.

In Guangzhou, the inspection focused on cooperation in the fields of energy and digital economy. Zhou Hongbo visited Baiyun Electric Group and Guangzhou Digital Technology Group successively and witnessed the signing of relevant projects.

In Shenzhen, the inspection mainly revolved around industrial technological innovation and industrial chain collaboration. Zhou Hongbo visited Sunwoda Electronic Co., Ltd., Xizhilang Group, AAC Technologies Holdings Inc., and Huakelink Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. successively and witnessed the signing of relevant projects.

In addition, Zhou Hongbo also visited the headquarters of ZTE Corporation and had in - depth exchanges with Xu Ziyang, the President of ZTE, on the strategic cooperation direction and key points during the 15th Five - Year Plan period. He visited Dapu Micro, a representative enterprise invested in by Nanjing State - owned Venture Capital with the concept of "investing in early - stage, small - scale, and hardcore technology" projects, and stated that Nanjing will continue to strengthen talent services, deepen the resource connection between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and help Dapu Micro develop in Nanjing.

Based on publicly available information, this is the first cross - provincial inspection by the Secretary of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee this year. Since the beginning of this year, the main leaders of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee and the Nanjing Municipal Government have led delegations to Guangzhou and Shenzhen for inspections three times in a row.

As early as from March 6th to 7th, Li Zhongjun, the Mayor of Nanjing, led a delegation to Shenzhen. They visited the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen Capital Group Co., Ltd., Honor, DJI, Tencent, Mindray Medical International Limited and other enterprises successively, and held a symposium for enterprises in the AI + intelligent terminal industrial chain.

From May 25th to 26th, he led a delegation to Guangzhou and Shenzhen again, visiting China Electronics Corporation, OCT Group, SF Holding Co., Ltd., Shein, Inovance Technology Co., Ltd., Vog Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., KingMed Diagnostics Group Co., Ltd. and other enterprises.

Why does Nanjing make such frequent visits to Guangzhou and Shenzhen to learn from them?

According to official reports, the key words are "actively connecting with the Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area strategy, learning and inspecting advanced experience and practices, strengthening complementary advantages, and deepening industrial connection".

It is not difficult to find that all three inspections focused on Nanjing's key and advantageous industries, aiming to promote innovation collaboration, industrial cooperation, and coordinated development.

For example, Baiyun Electric Group, relying on its subsidiaries such as Nanjing Electric Co., Ltd., is accelerating the construction of its "second headquarters" in Nanjing to help Nanjing build a trillion - level smart grid industry.

Holding a symposium for enterprises in the "AI + intelligent terminal" industrial chain in Shenzhen sent a strong signal that Nanjing is striving to become a national high - ground for the intelligent terminal industry and an important innovation source.

In addition, the delegation also visited institutions such as the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shenzhen Capital Group Co., Ltd. to learn about the experience in technology transfer and building a fund ecosystem...

Behind this is Nanjing's sense of urgency for the development of emerging industries.

In 2025, Nanjing's GDP reached 1942.878 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 5.2%, failing to break through the 2 - trillion - yuan mark as scheduled. Meanwhile, cities such as Ningbo, Qingdao, Wuxi, Changsha, and Zhengzhou have put forward goals to reach 2 - trillion - yuan GDP, getting closer to Nanjing step by step.

At the beginning of last year, the "Six Little Dragons" in Hangzhou became a big hit. A media under the official newspaper of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee raised four questions in a row, triggering a discussion on "Why can't Nanjing develop 'Six Little Dragons' like Hangzhou?" The Nanjing Government Work Report in 2026 frankly stated when analyzing "old problems and new challenges" that "the supporting role of emerging industries in Nanjing needs to be enhanced".

Therefore, among the four strategic priorities in Nanjing's 15th Five - Year Plan, "innovation - led" is placed at the top, and a development idea of "led by 'Artificial Intelligence +' and focusing on promoting the in - depth integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation" has been established. In the fierce industrial transformation, Nanjing must take the initiative to reconstruct its urban competitiveness.

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