Shanghai is planning to launch collaborative planning for the Shanghai metropolitan region with Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

The Shanghai metropolitan region refers to a city cluster centered on Shanghai with a competitive industrial chain and mature urban communities. According to the plan, the region will preliminarily include Shanghai and seven cities in the two provinces, namely Nantong, Suzhou and Wuxi in Jiangsu and Huzhou, Jiaxing, Ningbo and Zhoushan in Zhejiang. The metropolitan area will cover 49,000 square kilometers and have a permanent resident population of 65 million.

The Shanghai Overall Urban Plan (2017-35) approved by the State Council in 2017 mentioned that Shanghai should fully play its role as a center city and enhance collaboration with surrounding cities, in order to build the Shanghai metropolitan region into a world-class city cluster with global influence.

The collaborative planning for the Shanghai metropolitan region aims to build an open and coordinated pattern in the Yangtze River Delta region centered on Shanghai, and strengthen regional connections in terms of functions, transportation, the environment and facilities, in order to promote the integrated development of the region.

According to the plan, eight major regional collaboration actions will be launched including traffic integration, the overall planning of municipal infrastructure, green network and industrial harmonious development.