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During the transition towards a more market-oriented economy and entrepreneurial governance, local authorities have attempted to create new cross-jurisdiction regional entities to enhance their competitiveness through making city-region plans or regional strategic plans in China. This article analyses the process of region building in China through a case study of Nanjing city-region. We argue that region building is a state-led regional project in China, not a spontaneous process. City-region planning has played a legitimacy-seeking role in the construction of new regions. Based on the discourse provided by the city-region plan, associated city networks are being created as a mechanism for plan implementation and regional coordination. This signals that regional planning is entering the stage of regional institution building. By assessing the capacity of regional institutions, we argue that the newly-emerged regional institutions or urban networks have facilitated regionalization in terms of the increasing involvement of non-state actors, the formation of regional coherence and identity and the enhanced inter-city co-operation. However, it is still difficult to establish effective regional governance due to competing local governments, the arbitrary political leadership and the fragmented planning functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]