Editing Yangtze Delta (section)

==History==
{{Further|Jiangnan}}
The [[Neolithic]] [[Liangzhu culture]] was based in this region, and in the [[Eastern Zhou period]] it was home to the powerful states of [[Wu (state)|Wu]], based in [[Suzhou]], and [[Yue (state)|Yue]], based in the [[Shaoxing]] area. [[Nanjing]] first served as a capital in the [[Three Kingdoms]] period as the capital of [[Eastern Wu]] (AD 229–280). In the fourth century CE the [[Eastern Jin dynasty]] (AD 317–420) moved its capital here after losing control of the north and its capital [[Jiankang]] (present-day [[Nanjing]]) became a major cultural, economic, and political hub. During the mid to late period of the [[Tang dynasty]] (618-907), the region emerged as an economic hub, and by the late Tang the Delta became the Empire's foremost important agricultural, handicraft industrial and economic hub.

[[Hangzhou]] served as the Chinese capital during the [[Southern Song dynasty]] (1127–1279). Then called Lin'an, it became the biggest city in East Asia with a population more than 1.5 million, and one of the most prosperous cities in the world, which it remained after the Mongol conquest. At the same time, [[Ningbo]] became one of the two biggest seaports in East Asia along with [[Quanzhou]] (in [[Fujian]] province). Nanjing was the early capital of the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644) and the region remained the most important economic region of the empire even after the [[Yongle Emperor]] moved the capital to [[Beijing]] in 1421.

During the mid-late [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644), the first bud of capitalism<ref>{{Cite web |last=Liu |first=Rifeng |date=1996 |title=CQVIP |url=http://www.cqvip.com/QK/87870X/199601/1004829918.html}}</ref> of East Asia was born and developed in this area, although it was disrupted by the [[Qing conquest of the Ming|Manchu invasion]] and controlled strictly and carefully by the Confucian central government in [[Beijing]], it continued its development slowly throughout the rest of the [[Qing dynasty]] (1644-1911). During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the delta again blossomed into a large socioeconomic hub.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Niu |first1=Tingting |last2=Li |first2=Ruibin |date=2022-04-20 |editor-last=Chaudhary |editor-first=Gopal |title=A Study on the Influence of Traditional Architectural Elements on the Urban Context from the Perspective of Perception: Taking the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the Bohai Rim as Examples |journal=Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience |language=en |volume=2022 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.1155/2022/1744411 |pmid=35498203 |pmc=9045971 |issn=1687-5273|doi-access=free }}</ref>

During the [[Qianlong Emperor|Qianlong era]] (1735-1796) of the Qing dynasty, [[Shanghai]] began developing rapidly and became the largest port in the Far East. From late 19th century to early 20th century, Shanghai was the foremost commercial hub in the Far East. The Yangtze Delta became the first industrialized area in China.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.qstheory.cn/zhuanqu/bkjx/2018-12/01/c_1123794040.htm|title=江南文化：长三角城市群的成长基因|website=www.qstheory.cn|access-date=2019-06-03|archive-date=2018-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203190904/http://www.qstheory.cn/zhuanqu/bkjx/2018-12/01/c_1123794040.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the middle and late feudal society of China, the Yangtze River Delta region initially formed a considerable urban agglomeration.

After the [[Chinese economic reform]] program which began in 1978, Shanghai again became the most important economic region in [[Mainland China]]. In modern times, the Yangtze Delta metropolitan region is anchored by Shanghai, and also flanked by the major metropolitan areas of [[Hangzhou]], [[Suzhou]], [[Ningbo]], and [[Nanjing]], home to nearly 105 million people (of which an estimated 80 million are urban residents). It is the heart of China's economic development, surpassing other concentrations of metropolitan areas (including the [[Pearl Delta]]) in China in terms of economic growth, productivity and per capita income.

In 1982, the Chinese government set up the Shanghai Economic Area. Besides [[Shanghai]], four cities in [[Jiangsu]] ([[Suzhou]], [[Wuxi]], [[Changzhou]], [[Nantong]]) and five cities in [[Zhejiang]] ([[Hangzhou]], [[Jiaxing]], [[Shaoxing]], [[Huzhou]], [[Ningbo]]) were included. In 1992, a 14-city cooperative joint meeting was launched. Besides the previous 10 cities, the members included [[Nanjing]], [[Zhenjiang]] and [[Yangzhou]] in [[Jiangsu]], and [[Zhoushan]] in [[Zhejiang]]. In 1997, the regular joint meeting resulted in the establishment of the Yangtze Delta Economic Coordination Association, which included a new member [[Taizhou, Jiangsu|Taizhou]] in [[Jiangsu]] in that year. In 1997, [[Taizhou, Zhejiang|Taizhou]] in [[Zhejiang]] also joined the association. In 2003, the association accepted six new members after a six-year observation and review, including [[Yancheng]] and [[Huai'an]] in [[Jiangsu]], [[Jinhua]] and [[Quzhou]] in [[Zhejiang]], and [[Ma'anshan]] and [[Hefei]] in [[Anhui]]. In 2019, the area expanded to include the entirety of [[Anhui]], [[Jiangsu]], [[Zhejiang]], and [[Shanghai]].<ref name="govcn">{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2019-12/01/content_5457442.htm|publisher=中华人民共和国政府|title=中共中央 国务院印发《长江三角洲区域一体化发展规划纲要》}}</ref>