The Yangtze River Delta plan was conceived in 2018 to complement two other megacity clusters -- the Greater Bay Area in the south and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Integration Plan in the northeast. © Nikkei montage/Source photo by Xinhua/Kyodo

China's Yangtze economic belt tests Xi's push for tech independence

Dual circulation and self-sufficiency plans create concerns for foreign investors

CK TAN, Nikkei staff writer

June 8, 2021 06:02 JST

SHANGHAI -- The Chinese village of Yucun was once an impoverished community polluted by a nearby coal mine and cement plants. Now it is a tourist attraction thanks to the picturesque mountains and lakes that surround it -- and a poster town for some of President Xi Jinping's big plans.

"The average income for folks here has reached 65,000 yuan ($10,000) a year now, up from 8,000 yuan in 2005," said Yu Xiaoping, a Chinese Communist Party official, applauding the village's transformation. "This is where [Xi] first suggested that 'lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,' back in 2005."