A consortium of Chinese universities has pledged to conduct joint research on the development of the Yangtze River Delta region through an academic alliance.

Spearheaded by Fudan University, the YRD Higher Education Think Tank Alliance was established in Shanghai on Sunday. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University and the University of Science and Technology of China are the other four partners in the alliance, which is open to recruiting other universities and research institutions within the region.

The bloc aims to enhance academic research and offer policy advice regarding the development of the delta, through international collaboration and talent cultivation, according to a press release.

China has made the regional integration of the delta a national strategy. The area covers Shanghai and its neighboring provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.

Although the region only accounts for one-sixth of China's population, it generates nearly a quarter of the nation's gross domestic product.