The Yangtze River Delta is the most economically active urban sector in my country, with its economic aggregate and population ranking first in the country. The current Yangtze River Delta includes three provinces and one city, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui, with Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou as the core. It is referred to as the Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou Urban Belt for short, and is also the name of the old Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration.

However, with the rapid development of cities across the Yangtze River Delta, economically strong cities such as Suzhou, Wuxi, and Ningbo have emerged. Nanjing's economic aggregate has also dropped from second place in the Yangtze River Delta more than a decade ago to fourth place.

According to official data, Shanghai ranks first, Suzhou ranks second, Hangzhou ranks third and Nanjing ranks fourth in the entire Yangtze River Delta region. Although Nanjing only ranks fourth in total GDP, it is still a large first-tier city in the Yangtze River Delta after Shanghai. Suzhou and Hangzhou are new first-tier cities. Do you know why?

In the eyes of people in China and even all Asian countries, Nanjing is a very influential city. Together with Beijing and Xi'an, it is a true historical metropolis. As early as 222 AD, during the Three Kingdoms Period, Nanjing had become the capital of Wu. It went through ten dynasties including the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Southern Tang Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, the Taiping Rebellion and the Republic of China, all of which established its capital here. It is the ancient capital with the largest number of dynasties in all areas on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and its influence remains until now. Today, Nanjing is already the first-tier large city in the Yangtze River Delta region after Shanghai.

Speaking of Nanjing being a first-tier large city in the Yangtze River Delta region, it is estimated that many people do not understand why Nanjing's total GDP is much lower than Suzhou and far behind Shanghai. Why is its urban positioning and influence second only to Shanghai? Now, let alone comparing Nanjing with Shanghai and Suzhou, even if compared with Hangzhou, the same provincial capital city, its GDP is slightly lower than that of Hangzhou. However, the city's positioning is higher than Hangzhou, which is difficult for many people to understand, right? However, when you carefully analyze Nanjing's urban functions, you will suddenly understand.

In China, I don't think there is any other city that can be called Beijing except Beijing and Nanjing, right? Nanjing's total GDP does seem to be much lower than that of Suzhou, less than half of Shanghai's GDP, and it is a large city in the first tier of the Yangtze River Delta. An analysis of Nanjing's urban administrative divisions shows that Nanjing and Shanghai are the only two cities in the entire Yangtze River Delta without jurisdiction. Therefore, the total GDP of Nanjing and Shanghai is the result of urban economic development, while the county-level cities under Suzhou are all among the top 100 in the country. For example, Kunshan City has a total GDP of more than 400 billion yuan, and the GDP of county cities such as Changshu and Zhangjiagang also exceeds 200 billion yuan. According to estimates from the statistical department, Suzhou's total GDP in 2019 will be 2 trillion yuan, and Nanjing's GDP will be about 1.4 trillion yuan. These gaps are indeed not small, but if the total urban economic volume of Suzhou County is deducted, the total urban economic volume of Suzhou still surpasses Nanjing? I don't think so.

I think many people will refute that Nanjing abolished the former Gaochun County and Lishui County, so there are no counties under its jurisdiction. If Suzhou cancels the zoning of county-level cities, Suzhou's economic aggregate will still surpass Nanjing. This seemingly reasonable statement is actually not the case. First of all, the economic aggregate of Gaochun County and Lishui County previously accounted for a very low proportion of the entire Nanjing region. Even if Nanjing was not divided into districts, Nanjing's urban economic aggregate was still the largest in Jiangsu. Kunshan, Zhangjiagang, Taicang, Changshu and other places have their own strong economic units and relatively independent historical and cultural systems. In addition, the development of Suzhou's Urban area itself has not yet reached the needs of dividing counties into districts, so Suzhou is currently unlikely to divide Kunshan, Zhangjiagang, Changshu and other places into districts.

In terms of history and culture, Nanjing is no less than the two ancient capitals of Beijing and Xi'an. Ancient, clean, tidy and beautiful ancient streets of Nanjing can be seen everywhere. The antique roads and buildings distributed in the Urban area of Nanjing are witnesses of this ancient capital of ten dynasties. When you slow down and visit Nanjing carefully, you will understand why the poet said,"Visiting Nanjing is like visiting an antique shop."

In terms of urban functions, Nanjing also has the spirit of a big city. Speaking of higher education alone, Nanjing has dozens of famous universities, and some well-known universities can be seen in Nanjing, such as Southeast University. I won't talk nonsense about Southeast University's faculty here. Its strength depends on people in the industry to evaluate it. Anyway, Yamano-san only knows that this is a prestigious university in China.

Nanjing University, a century-old famous university, was on the same footing as famous universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University as early as the late Qing Dynasty. It has a long history in terms of its founding. According to relevant historical records, the origin of Nanjing University can be traced back to the Nanjing Imperial College during the period of Sun Quan in Dongwu. Judging from its long history, strong faculty and free and open academic style, Nanjing University's strength is quite amazing. Strong higher education resources provide a steady stream of impetus for Nanjing's urban development.

Some people say that Nanjing possesses Jiangsu's best educational resources, transportation resources and other social public resources. I think this sentence is a kind of nonsense. First of all, universities in Nanjing existed long ago. They did not occupy higher education resources in the name of the capital of Jiangsu. In order to help the development of cities such as Suzhou and Wuxi, Nanjing University and Southeast University are used to transfer some of the high-quality educational resources to the development of their own cities. Nanjing has done a very good job in sharing resources in medical care, science and technology, education and other fields. In terms of urban construction, Nanjing is based on ecological and environmental protection to build a livable and business-friendly city.

Many factors such as its long historical accumulation, developed urban economy, rich scientific and educational resources, convenient transportation resources, beautiful urban environment, and perfect urban functions make Nanjing a first-tier city in the Yangtze River Delta. I would like to ask, in the entire Yangtze River Delta region, apart from Shanghai, whose comprehensive strength can be compared to Nanjing, which other city can have such strength? For the situation of other cities, you can refer to the situation of Suzhou.