Industrial Synergy, Port Linkage, Innovation Collaboration, Livelihood Cooperation
Shanghai-Dalian Pairing Cooperation Achieves Mutual Benefit and Win-Win Results in a Decade
At the 27th Dalian International Industry Fair held last year, the Shanghai enterprise joint exhibition area secured an on-site order worth 30,000 yuan. Unlike consumer-oriented trade fairs, on-site transactions are rare at professional exhibitions like the Industry Fair.
Fu Wenchen, Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee of the Dalian International Industry Fair, clearly remembers that this order came from a local professional visitor in Dalian. On the last day of the fair, he purchased all the exhibited samples from a Shanghai exhibitor’s booth. Fu Wenchen stated that at previous Dalian Industry Fairs, the Shanghai exhibition group’s booths have always been the most popular, with samples even being bought out, fully demonstrating the high enthusiasm of the visitors.
Behind this “small order” of 30,000 yuan lies the close interaction between the industrial sectors of the two cities, reflecting the “grand cooperation” between Shanghai and Dalian that has lasted for a decade.
In November 2016, the State Council issued the “Opinions on Several Important Measures to Deepen the Implementation of the New Round of Northeast Revitalization Strategy and Accelerate the Stabilization and Improvement of the Northeast Region’s Economy,” proposing the establishment of a pairing cooperation mechanism between Shanghai and Dalian. Since then, from the banks of the Huangpu River to the coast of the Bohai Sea, two cities with similar functional positioning have embarked on a journey of north-south linkage, complementary advantages, and mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, bonded by the pairing cooperation.
During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, Shanghai invested in 38 key projects in Dalian, with an investment amount of 52.76 billion yuan; Dalian invested in 54 key projects in Shanghai, with an investment amount of 41.94 billion yuan. The two municipal governments signed 18 new cooperation agreements, conducting comprehensive exchanges and cooperation, yielding fruitful results in multiple fields such as industry, scientific research, and port logistics.
From Exhibition and Exchange to Industrial Synergy
The 28th Dalian International Industry Fair will be held from May 13 to 16 and is currently under intense preparation. At previous Dalian Industry Fairs, Shanghai has routinely set up the Shanghai-Dalian Pairing Cooperation Exhibition Area, carefully organizing high-quality enterprises to participate. The exclusive exhibition area for the Shanghai delegation at this year’s fair reaches 500 square meters, making it the largest single exhibition area at this Dalian Industry Fair.
Not only is the exhibition area large, but the lineup of the Shanghai delegation is also impressive. Nineteen national-level specialized and new “Little Giant” enterprises, high-tech enterprises, and universities will collectively appear at the fair, with exhibits covering cutting-edge products and core technologies in fields such as intelligent manufacturing, artificial intelligence, new energy, new materials, marine economy, and biomedicine.
It is particularly worth mentioning that the participating enterprises and universities in the Shanghai delegation this time are all top-tier in their respective industries. For example, China Fusion Energy Co., Ltd., as a national core enterprise in the field of nuclear fusion, focuses on the engineering and commercial application of “artificial sun” technology; the “Offshore Floating Island” of the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University is the world’s first ultra-large deep-sea self-propelled scientific research platform.
In the ten years since the pairing cooperation began, the Dalian Industry Fair has become a flagship brand activity for the cooperation between Shanghai and Dalian. The fair is not only a window for showcasing new technologies and products but also an important platform for industrial synergy, factor flow, and project implementation. Centered around the Industry Fair, Shanghai has explored a “four-in-one” mechanism integrating “exhibition + pairing cooperation + enterprise visits + government-enterprise matchmaking,” merging traditional exhibitions, exchanges, and investment attraction to enhance the fair’s practical role in promoting industrial cooperation and investment.
Through organizing activities like “Shanghai Enterprises’ Dalian Trip” and a series of supporting policy mechanisms, Shanghai provides multi-faceted support and services for participating enterprises. Correspondingly, the Dalian Municipal Party Committee, Municipal Government, and relevant functional departments actively participate in coordination and matchmaking, providing Shanghai enterprises with industrial foundations, policies, and implementation environments. With the Dalian Industry Fair as the main axis, a complete chain from exhibition and exchange to matchmaking and implementation has been formed.
According to statistics, through the platform of the Dalian Industry Fair, Shanghai and Dalian have cumulatively reached over 5,000 cooperation intentions. A batch of projects for supplementing, strengthening, and extending the industrial chain have been completed and put into operation, successfully creating a distinctive collaborative model of “R&D in Shanghai, Transformation in Dalian” and “Headquarters in Shanghai, Base in Dalian,” driving the new output value of related industries in Dalian to exceed 100 billion yuan, injecting strong momentum into the comprehensive revitalization of the old industrial base in Northeast China.
Port Linkage Creates a New Cooperation Pattern
As both are coastal cities, the port is a natural bond for cooperation between Shanghai and Dalian. One holds the radiating power and management experience of a world-class container hub port, while the other possesses the core port advantages of an international shipping center in Northeast Asia. The linkage between the Port of Shanghai and the Port of Dalian is becoming increasingly close, with the demonstration effect gradually emerging.
Since November 2022, when Jinjiang Shipping, a subsidiary of Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd., successfully launched a Japan route at the Port of Dalian, the Port of Shanghai and the Port of Dalian have been guided by route cooperation, continuously deepening collaboration in areas such as the cultivation of near-ocean routes, the construction of ro-ro vehicle maritime corridors, service linkage for domestic trade container routes, and synergy in the green methanol full industry chain, forming a cooperation pattern characterized by “business-driven, resource synergy, and green leadership.”
In August 2025, Liaoning Port Group launched the Dalian Northeast Asia Fruit Transshipment Center (Maritime Imported Durian Project), signing agreements with Shanghai SITC Container Shipping Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Jiaonong Banana Industry Co., Ltd. to open a Southeast Asia-Dalian Port refrigerated fruit express route, achieving a breakthrough in the maritime import of durians at northern ports. Since the launch of this “fruit express route,” fresh durians can arrive in Dalian by sea in as little as 6 days.
In recent years, China’s export of new energy vehicles has shown strong momentum. In terms of automotive logistics corridor construction, the coastal transportation business between the Port of Dalian and Shanghai Haitong Automotive Terminal has maintained high-frequency operation, with three regular sailings per week, forming an efficient maritime logistics corridor. Currently, the monthly total vehicle throughput on this route reaches 12,000 units, of which about 6,000 are export vehicles, accounting for 50% of the total business volume, demonstrating strong foreign trade growth momentum.
In the domestic trade sector, the Port of Shanghai and the Port of Dalian are cooperating to further optimize and promote the construction of the “Dalian-Shanghai” domestic trade premium express route, exploring the replication of the Port of Shanghai’s “water-water transfer” experience in the Yangtze River Basin to the Port of Dalian’s coverage of the inland hinterland of Northeast China, achieving deep synergy in the supply chain.
At the same time, green energy cooperation has also become a new highlight of the port linkage between the two cities. In July 2025, the methanol bunkering vessel “Haigang Zhiyuan” under Shanghai Energy loaded 500 tons of methanol fuel at the Dalian Xingang Terminal and bunkered 500 tons of methanol fuel for the vessel “COSCO Shipping Yangpu” at the Dalian Dayaowan Container Terminal, marking Dalian as the first port in northern China with the capability for simultaneous methanol “ship-to-ship” bunkering.
“R&D in Shanghai, Transformation in Dalian”
Technological innovation and industrial cooperation have always been the core engine of the Shanghai-Dalian pairing cooperation. Over the past decade, research institutions, universities, and enterprises in the two cities have formed a batch of high-level cooperation achievements in fields such as new materials, new energy, and high-end equipment, focusing on national major strategic needs.
In May 2023, the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) jointly established the Perovskite Solar Cell Joint R&D Center. In July 2024, a 100-meter “roll-to-roll” flexible perovskite module pilot production line was built. In May 2025, CNNC’s subsidiary, Zhonghe Optoelectronics, built a 200 MW rigid perovskite fully automated mass production line in Shanghai’s Lingang area, with the initial module efficiency reaching 16.5%.
In the hydrogen energy field, the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) and Shanghai Electric jointly established a PEM water electrolysis hydrogen production technology R&D center in 2021. Focusing on key materials and equipment for proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis hydrogen production, they are developing megawatt-level modular systems. In April this year, the two parties jointly completed the R&D of a 15 MPa high-pressure hydrogen PEM electrolysis stack through direct electrolysis, achieving the localization of core equipment for green hydrogen.
The cross-regional transformation of scientific and technological achievements relies on specialized platform support. In 2023, the Dalian Service Center of the Shanghai Technology Exchange was inaugurated in the Dalian High-tech Zone, becoming the first branch of a national-level technology trading platform to settle in the Northeast region. Since its establishment, the center has issued 38 patent value analysis reports, served 254 local Dalian scientific and technological achievement transformation projects, listed and promoted 244 projects, concluded 15 open license projects, and completed a transaction amount of 7.9 million yuan, effectively connecting Shanghai’s core trading network with Dalian’s regional industrial ecosystem.
In the equipment manufacturing sector, the synergistic effect of “R&D in Shanghai, Transformation in Dalian” is becoming increasingly prominent. By setting up R&D centers in Shanghai and jointly building laboratories with Shanghai technology companies, Dalian enterprises can “directly connect” to the talent and technology highlands of the Yangtze River Delta. For example, Dalian Wazhou Group established an R&D center in Shanghai and partnered with Dassault Systèmes (Shanghai) to build a “Global Bearing PLM Practice and Innovation Application Center,” leveraging Shanghai’s intellectual resources and internationally leading industrial software to accelerate its own digital transformation and high-end product R&D.
“R&D in Shanghai, Transformation in Dalian” is not only a spatial division of labor but also a complementary advantage of innovation ecosystems. The typical experience of Shanghai and Dalian in the field of scientific R&D and transformation cooperation provides a replicable model for cross-regional innovation synergy.
Bringing the Warmth of Cooperation to Every Household
Over the past decade, Shanghai and Dalian have continuously transformed the fruits of cooperation into benefits for people’s livelihoods. From the sinking of high-quality medical resources to the connection of agricultural product production and sales, from cultural tourism interaction to the sharing of community governance experience, the warmth of cooperation is increasingly and tangibly reaching the daily lives of the people in both cities.
Among the many areas of livelihood cooperation, the achievements in the health sector are the most intuitive and tangible. Under the framework of Shanghai-Dalian cooperation, the Dalian Women and Children’s Medical Group has established precise paired partnerships with 6 top-tier Shanghai hospitals, including the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University and the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, covering 16 specialized departments. Shanghai experts regularly travel to Dalian for consultations and teaching, allowing children in Dalian to access top-tier domestic medical care without traveling thousands of miles. Since the establishment of the Day Surgery Center of the Dalian Women and Children’s Medical Group in November 2024, relying on Shanghai’s technology and management experience, it has completed over 1,600 surgeries, with an average cost per case reduced by 44% compared to conventional hospitalization, cumulatively saving over 820,000 yuan in medical insurance funds.
In 2024, Shanghai and Dalian signed the “Framework Agreement on Comprehensively Deepening Cooperation and Exchange in the Health Field (2024-2027),” further expanding cooperation to areas such as health big data and medical-engineering crossover. Currently, the Dalian Women and Children’s Medical Group has ranked among the top A-level in the national obstetrics and gynecology series and A+ level in maternal and child health institutions, and is striving to create a national regional medical center. The Shanghai-Dalian health cooperation is transitioning from “blood transfusion” to “blood production,” benefiting a broader population of women and children in the Northeast region.
Not only medical and health services, but the radius of cooperation in the livelihood sector between Shanghai and Dalian is also continuously expanding. The Shanghai Operations Headquarters of the Dalian Seafood Brand has settled in Putuo District, allowing Shanghai citizens to taste authentic North Latitude 39-degree seafood at their doorstep; advertisements for Dalian cherries have appeared on Shanghai’s Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street and Hongqiao Railway Station, extending brand influence from the production area directly to consumers in the Yangtze River Delta; Zhuanghe City has partnered with Shanghai’s Hema Group to build a digital agriculture demonstration city, promoting precise alignment of agricultural and sideline product production and sales, becoming the second “Hema City” in the country.
A decade of concerted efforts, shared prosperity for Shanghai and Dalian. Standing at the new starting point of the “15th Five-Year Plan,” Shanghai and Dalian are focusing on implementing the regional coordinated development strategy, further deepening communication and alignment, seizing opportunities in digitalization, intelligence, and green development, jointly enhancing port and shipping operational capabilities, deepening synergy in technological innovation and industrial innovation, promoting exchanges and cooperation in finance, talent, and people’s livelihoods, striving to build a multi-level, wide-ranging, and broad-field cooperation system, and pushing the Shanghai-Dalian pairing cooperation to further depth and substance.
(Source: Jiefang Daily, Reporter: Yu Liang)
