(Yicai) June 6 -- The fastest-growing indicator of the 2023 Yangtze River Delta Region Collaborative Innovation Index was result sharing, according to a recent report.

Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang jointly published 24,847 international scientific papers last year, up 2.7-fold from 2018 and accounting for one-third of the Yangtze River Delta region’s total, according to a report released today by research institutes from the four provincial-level regions.

The 2023 Yangtze River Delta Regional Collaborative Innovation Index comprises five indicators: resource sharing, innovative tie-ups, result sharing, industrial links, and environmental protection. It has been calculated since 2011, but reports have been published only since 2018. The index climbed to 267.6 last year from 100 in 2011, recording an average annual growth rate of 9.3 percent between 2018 and 2023.

Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang cooperated and jointly applied for 4,911 invention patents last year, up 2.8-fold from 2018 and accounting for more than 30 percent of the total in the Yangtze River Delta region, the report also showed.

The value of technology contracts exported to Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang from Shanghai soared 4.3-fold to CNY74.4 billion (USD10.3 billion) last year from 2018, accounting for 36 percent of the Yangtze River Delta region’s total technology contract export value, according to the report. The number of patents Shanghai exported to its three neighbors rose 41 percent to nearly 1,640 in the period.

Meanwhile, the density of the Yangtze River Delta area’s scientific research cooperation network inched up 4 basis points to 0.74, mainly focused on basic subjects, including material chemistry and life sciences.

As of March 31, 5,738 listed companies based in the Yangtze River Delta region invested in other areas within the region. Shanghai was the preferred destination for industrial chain synergy investment.

In the Yangtze River Delta region, net profits of high-tech industries, new product sales revenue of industrial enterprises above designated size, and the industrial output value of enterprises in national high-tech zones increased 70 percent, 59 percent, and 43 percent, respectively, last year, said Zhang Mizhi, director of the Statistical Evaluation Research Office of the Shanghai Institute for Science of Science.

The number of venture capital investments completed in the Yangtze River Delta region reversed a downward trend and rose 8.4 percent last year.

Editor: Futura Costaglione