Yihe New District is one of four provincial-level new districts established by the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government to serve as a strategic hub for regional integrated development. It is positioned as a “bridgehead for aligning with the Yangtze River Delta regional integration strategy, a demonstration and leading zone for leapfrog development in southern Shandong, and a comprehensive pilot zone for the deep integration of industry and urban development.” Officially established on November 22, 2022, it covers a planned area of 496 square kilometers, encompasses eight towns and subdistricts, and has a total population of 720,000.

The district boasts superior geographical and transportation advantages. Situated midway between Beijing and Shanghai, at the intersection of the Shandong Peninsula and Yangtze River Delta urban clusters, it serves as the new center for Linyi’s future urban development. With a 153-square-kilometer urban development boundary and 48 square kilometers of new construction land, it has secured ample space for long-term growth.A network of high-speed rail and expressways crisscrosses the region, and the airport operates nearly 60 domestic and international routes. Newly planned major transportation corridors include the second Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Rail line, the Jinan-Laiwu-Linyi High-Speed Rail, the Zhanjiang-Linyi Expressway, and the Linyi-Tengzhou Expressway, with logistics costs 30% lower than the national average.

Convergence of policy initiatives. Major strategies such as the Ecological Conservation and High-Quality Development of the Yellow River Basin and the Huaihai Economic Zone converge here, with the district benefiting from significant policies including the National Market Procurement Trade Pilot Program and the Comprehensive Cross-Border E-Commerce Pilot Zone. Provincial and municipal governments have respectively introduced 28 and 24 measures to support the new district’s high-quality development, with over 100 administrative powers delegated to the district by the provincial government, and all government service matters integrated into the province’s unified management system.