State-run China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. (CSIC) decided in a board meeting on Thursday to accelerate its investment plans in Hebei Province where the newly announced Xiongan New Area is located.

The new area is “strategically crucial for a millennium to come,” read a circular that contained the announcement for the new area’s establishment. The CPC Central Committee and the central government published the document on April 1. The creation of the new metropolis is part of efforts to develop the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. 

CSIC is the first state-owned enterprise to take concrete action in support of the new metropolis. It is one of China’s largest shipbuilding conglomerates, and ranked 281st on the list of the world's Fortune 500 companies in 2016.

The new area’s establishment brings about major historical opportunities for the CSIC to implement its development strategy and become an innovative and leading enterprise in its industry, CSIC chairman Hu Wenming said.

The CSIC plans to establish a high-tech marine equipment industrial park in Baoding city of Hebei Province, with an area of 0.67 square kilometers for sea defense and intelligent equipment. The conglomerate will transfer its acoustic and marine electronic equipment business to the park.

It will promote integration of its military and civilian businesses and diversified ownership, and establish an intelligent boat and airplane company with a private defense industry enterprise in the industrial park.

Over a dozen state-owned enterprises have expressed their support for the new area, including Sinopec, a petroleum refining company, the telco China Unicom, and China Guodian Corp., an electricity firm.