Taihu Lake in Wuzhong district is a popular tourism destination in Suzhou. [Photo by Chen Buxiang/for China Daily]

The Yangtze River Delta, one of China's most robust economic zones, is aiming for greener development and closer integration of its cities, as stipulated in a government blueprint that was released on Tuesday.

The National Development and Reform Commission on Tuesday posted on its website the full master plan of the demonstration zone for eco-friendly and integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, including various environmental and cross-regional collaboration targets.

Spanning 2,300 square kilometers, the demonstration zone sits in the middle of the delta and consists of Qingpu district of Shanghai, Wujiang district of Suzhou in Jiangsu province and Jiashan county of Jiaxing in Zhejiang province.

Guard the green

According to the plan, over 95 percent of the zone's main water bodies should reach National IV standard and the water quality of the Taipu River — the canal connecting Taihu Lake and Huangpu River — should be maintained at National III standard, which means that it can be used for aquaculture or consumption, by 2025.

In addition, the green coverage rate in the zone should reach 42 percent while the length of greenway should exceed 500 kilometers.

"The mission of this zone is to strengthen environmental protection and to promote eco-friendly growth for a higher-quality integrated development," said Ma Chunlei, the director of the zone's executive committee, which was formed on Nov 1 to coordinate efforts across administrative divisions. Ma is also the deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai municipality.

Many environment restoration projects in the area are already in progress or in the pipeline, according to the administrators of the different local governments.

Yu Xufeng, governor of Qingpu district, said the district has established strict regulations for environmental protection and started relocating industrial factories currently situated in the protection zone for National II standard water bodies.

Xu Mingyang, governor of Jiashan county, said a lake restoration and river-linking project with a total investment of 2.04 billion yuan will be implemented for the 55 lakes in the county.

Li Ming, governor of Wujiang district, said the district has already deployed officers from Qingpu and Jiashan to conduct joint patrols along the rivers.