The Yangtze River Delta region is strengthening collaborative synergy through joint efforts, and now it is Hangzhou and Hefei's turn.
Recently, the Development and Reform Commission of Hangzhou Municipality and the Development and Reform Commission of Hefei Municipality jointly issued the "List of Key Cooperation Matters for the Hangzhou-Hefei Innovation Belt (First Batch)". Centering on eight aspects including technology scenario opening and implementation application, sci-tech innovation carrier coordination, industrial cluster complementation, digital transformation, intellectual property right transaction, integration of industry and education, cultural tourism and exhibition, and sci-tech finance, the list has arranged 11 specific cooperation tasks, marking that Hangzhou and Hefei have taken substantial steps in jointly building a cross-regional innovation community.
Both Hangzhou and Hefei are core cities in the Yangtze River Delta and national innovative cities, with rich innovation resources and distinctive industrial characteristics. The joint issuance of the cooperation matters list will promote the two cities to deepen collaboration in the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain and talent chain, and inject new momentum into the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and the cooperation between Zhejiang Province and Anhui Province.
The concept of "Hangzhou-Hefei Innovation Belt" was first put forward by Hangzhou. In July 2019, the "Decision of the CPC Hangzhou Municipal Committee on Implementing the National Strategy for the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta and Comprehensively Improving the City's Comprehensive Functional Level and Core Competitiveness" was released, which clearly proposed to "jointly promote the construction of the Hangzhou-Hefei Innovation Belt, and strengthen the connection and cooperation between the Hangzhou West Science and Technology Innovation Corridor and major sci-tech innovation carriers such as the Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center."
This idea has also received support at the provincial level. The "2025 Key Work List for Deepening Zhejiang-Anhui Cooperation" clearly put forward the "Hangzhou-Hefei Innovation Belt", which aims to promote cooperation between Hangzhou and Hefei in original research innovation, technology tackling, and achievement transformation. The 2026 work list proposes to "deepen urban innovation cooperation between Hangzhou and Hefei, formulate the implementation plan for the Hangzhou-Hefei Innovation Belt, and issue the list of key cooperation matters between Hangzhou and Hefei."
From Hefei's perspective, Hangzhou and Hefei are highly complementary among the major central cities in the Yangtze River Delta. One is a highland of private enterprises, gathering innovation and entrepreneurship groups including the Alibaba faction, Zhejiang University faction, overseas returnee faction, and Zhejiang Business faction. The other is driven by national strategies, and as a comprehensive national science center, it has outstanding hard technology strength in fields such as quantum information, deep space exploration, and fusion energy.
At present, the first batch of key cooperation matters list of the Hangzhou-Hefei Innovation Belt has been officially released. In terms of industrial cluster cooperation, the two cities will promote the complementary advantages of high-end industrial clusters, give full play to the advantages of Hangzhou in R&D and Hefei in manufacturing, deepen cooperation in the artificial intelligence industry, and promote the collaborative development of computing power clusters and data resources; connect the vehicle-road-cloud platforms of the two cities to promote the interconnection of smart city pilot projects.
In addition, the two sides will also promote the co-construction of sci-tech innovation carrier platforms, promote the linkage between the Hangzhou West Science and Technology Innovation Corridor and Hefei Binhu Science City; support Westlake University and University of Science and Technology of China to carry out research, and jointly build a joint laboratory for quantum computing under the Hangzhou-Hefei Innovation Belt framework.
As one of the first cities in China to systematically lay out the quantum technology industry, Hefei relies on the top scientific research strength of the National Laboratory and the University of Science and Technology of China, gathering dozens of enterprises in the quantum technology industry chain including Origin Quantum, QuantumCTek, and Wentian Quantum. Hangzhou is equipped with new research universities such as Westlake University and a mature achievement transformation ecosystem. For the co-construction of the joint laboratory, Hefei provides source innovation capabilities, while Hangzhou can rely on the market mechanism to provide "fertile soil" for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.
From a broader perspective, the strong alliance between the two places also undertakes greater tasks. At present, the coverage of the Shanghai International Science and Technology Innovation Center has been expanded to the entire Yangtze River Delta, shifting from the previous "point breakthrough" led by core cities to the regional collaborative integrated development supported by urban agglomerations. This cooperation between Hangzhou and Hefei will participate in the construction of the Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta) International Science and Technology Innovation Center in a coordinated manner, focus on cutting-edge basic research, build a cooperation platform for strategic scientific and technological forces, and jointly promote the transformation of industry-university-research achievements.
This article is from the WeChat Official Account "City Evolution Theory", written by Yang Huan, and published with authorization by 36Kr.