General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the symposium on deepening the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region that the Yangtze River Delta region should strengthen cross-regional collaboration in technological innovation and industrial innovation. At the Two Sessions in 2025, the National Development and Reform Commission explicitly proposed to deepen the cross-regional collaboration of technological innovation and industrial innovation in the Yangtze River Delta. Strengthening regional collaborative innovation is an inevitable way for China to deepen the implementation of regional strategies, promote regional linkage and integrated development, and enhance regional development vitality. From an economic perspective, the development of regional collaborative innovation involving different regions and entities is often constrained by geographical and institutional barriers. However, the vigorous development of the digital economy has given birth to a digital platform represented by the industrial Internet, which makes industrial resources and innovation elements increasingly show the characteristics of virtual agglomeration, platform-based operation and network-based collaboration. The allocation of regional innovation resources is largely free from the constraints of space, which can inject new momentum to enhance the ability of regional collaborative innovation.
