This month marks the first anniversary of the establishment of the Xiong'an New Area. One focus is attracting foreign-funded companies. But what are investors looking for and what can they bring? Xu Xinchen reports.

A two-hour drive from Beijing — soon to be shortened to a half-hour on high-speed rail. An area three times that of New York, and a big welcome for quality foreign investors. The Xiong'an New Area is attracting attention from businesses outside China, including a financial technology park in Xiong'an jointly set up by the UK.

CHARLES BOWMAN LORD MAYOR OF THE CITY OF LONDON "We, the UK, through Canary wharf, signed a memorandum earlier this year at the time when the prime minister was here. It's a huge city and really focuses on modern technology and modern innovation and creativity that goes with it. A smart city of the future that we are running from today and for many years to come."

XU XINCHEN XIONGAN NEW AREA The Xiong'an New Area serves as a special economic zone connecting Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province. And the government aims to move Beijing's non-capital functions into the new area. China's National Development and Reform Commission said that projects from around the world meeting requirements of the non-capital functions from Beijing and high quality development are welcome.

PROFESSOR ZHOU WENHAI SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, HEBEI UNIVERSITY CHN "Officials, business leaders and scholars from abroad have been visiting Xiong'an and seeking business opportunities, especially in high-end industries such as artificial intelligence and green finance. Xiong'an can offer them a stable political environment as well as access to an estimated local market of 100 million people in the Beijing-Tianjing-Hebei Triangle region. They can even move beyond that and reach the rest of China and the rest of the world."

And foreign investors can also bring necessary assistance for Xiong'an's goal of becoming an international smart city.

PROFESSOR ZHOU WENHAI SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, HEBEI UNIVERSITY CHN "First, foreign investors can inject a huge amount of capital into Xiong'an, which the new area needs to catch up with local infrastructure building. And quality foreign firms can also bring the expertise in management and industry know-how. That gives the new area a solid foundation for high quality development and to be innovation driven."

The announcement of the establishment of the New Area came out last April. Xiong'an aims to be on par with the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Shanghai Pudong New Area. Xu Xinchen, CGTN, Beijing.