Highlight - Xiongan New Area: facilitating the connectivity of "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei"

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In April 2017, a state-level New Area was announced to be built in Xiongan, Hebei Province, near Beijing.

The new area aims to undertake Beijing's non-capital function, explore the optimal development model of densely populated areas, adjust and optimize the spatial structure of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and pursue high-quality development.

Moreover, it is of far-reaching significance for China to foster a new engine to build a modern economic system.

Why did the Chinese government decide to establish such a new area in Xiongan? What's the New Area's strategic position in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated regional development?

Yang Baojun, President of China Academy of Urban Planning & Design, together with Ni Pengfei, Director of the Center for City & Competitiveness, CASS, share their points of view about the Xiongan New Area.

According to Yang Baojun, it's not a simple, single economic development zone, nor is it purely a new district. It carries strategic significance, which is "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei" (or Jing-Jin-Ji)– a unique effort to coordinate development of a vast city cluster in northern China.

Yang Baojun also mentioned that people shouldn't consider each city as an independent entity, nor consider only Beijing, Tianjin and Xiongan when they observe this assive area.

Instead, people should regard these three cities as the regional core, and how they will eventually lead to Jing-Jin-Ji's interconnectedness with the entire world.

Other elements should also be considered. For example, whether this New Area can be embedded within the existing railway and highway networks at the lowest cost?

The green fields in Anxin county, Xiongan,, Hebei Province. /VCG Photo

According to Ni Pengfei, the advantages of Xiongan lie in its geographic location and environment.

First, Xiongan is very close to Beijing and Tianjin, situated within one hour of each city's economic radius. Xiongan can make full use of both cities' high-end resources, as advanced production factors would flow naturally from both municipalities.

In addition, Xiongan's ecological system was reasonably good to begin with and is being comprehensively restored and improved, therefore enhancing Xiongan's potential.

In a word, the establishment of Xiongan New Area marks a historic timeline as it not only deepens the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei but also serves as the core engine that facilitates the connectivity of "Jing-Jin-Ji" to the world.