An aerial view of BYD's production base in Hefei in March. [Photo/China Daily]

Institutional innovation

Over the past decade, industries such as integrated circuits, new display and intelligent voice technologies have accelerated their development in Anhui.

The added value of emerging manufacturing and the digital economy have both exceeded 1 trillion yuan.

As more leading emerging manufacturing companies come to Anhui, they also bring in new technologies.

High-tech talent has noted significant opportunities in Anhui.

By 2022, the province had become an important testing ground for reforms in China's science and technology system. Between 2012-21, the number of high-tech enterprises in Anhui grew from 1,742 to 11,368.

To better facilitate high-quality development, the local government has pressed ahead with institutional innovation.

The most recent step was the creation of the USTC Silicon Valley in 2022, a hub for high-tech and innovation-based enterprises with market-oriented management and service platforms.

Cheng Yu, an official at the Development and Reform Commission of Hefei, said that such service platform companies help link various high-tech elements to facilitate different companies operating in the valley and improve efficiency in allocating resources, thus realizing an efficient market and a well-functioning government.

Liu, the NDRC researcher, said when taking these steps aimed at institutional innovation, the integrated development strategy of the Yangtze River Delta has offered Anhui enormous opportunities and policy incentives to attract businesses in emerging sectors and talent.

"Anhui has boarded the 'express way' of integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta by leveraging its own advantages and actively learning from the strengths of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, integrating local industrial development design with the cultivation of new industries during such regional integration," said Liu. "One feature during Anhui's growth is placing great emphasis on technological innovation. Such an effort has transformed the momentum of technological innovation into new driving forces for local economic development."

Despite notable development outcomes, Song from Anhui University said new policies are needed to spur future economic development, and the province still faces challenges in high-quality growth. One pressing issue is how to attract more high-end talent in cutting-edge industries, such as artificial intelligence and quantum telecommunications.

"The integrated development strategy of the Yangtze River Delta has helped Anhui to have a good start in high-quality manufacturing, yet local policy efforts need to stay up and running to catch up with the country's high-quality development trend," said Song. "New policy incentives must be given to bring in leading enterprises in fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum telecommunications, as leading enterprises in these fields help formulate application scenarios for such technologies, and these scenarios will bring more high-end talent to further their research in Anhui."