A New,Far-Reaching Area

On April 1， China announced a plan to set up the Xiongan New Area in Hebei Province， some 100 km southwest of downtown Beijing. The new area， covering three counties—Xiongxian， Anxin and Rongcheng—will take in industries and functions deemed non-essential to the capital.

A Xinhua News Agency report hailed the decision as a major historic and strategic choice that is crucial for the millennium to come. It said Xiongan is another new area with national significance following the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone established in 1980 and the Shanghai Pudong New Area in 1993.

During a visit to Anxin on February 23， President Xi Jinping said the new area should be green， intelligent and environmentally friendly， built upon hi-tech industries. It should be a new platform for expanding opening up and international cooperation.

These high expectations require the implementation of advanced concepts and world-leading standards to guide Xiongans planning and construction.

During Chinas urbanization drive in recent decades， industries and people have swarmed to megacities like Beijing and Shanghai， leading to serious urban problems such as traffi c gridlocks， stretched resources and pollution. Xi has proposed the BeijingTianjin-Hebei integrated development initiative to solve such problems. The establishment of Xiongan is an important part of the efforts to realize the initiative.

Beijing is defi ned as the political， scientifi c and technological， cultural and international communication center of China. Functions not related to these aspects will be moved out of the city.

The three combined counties are located at the center of the triangular area formed by Beijing， Tianjin， and Hebeis provincial capital Shijiazhuang. Collectively， they have a population of 1.2 million and an area of 1，600 square km. The three counties show growth potential as they are all underdeveloped agricultural areas with a preliminary level of industrialization.

More transportation networks will be built in the future to connect Xiongan to Beijing. The planned city area of 100 square km in the initial stage of construction will expand to 2，000 square km in the end， with the capacity to accommodate over 10 million people. The new area would therefore be able to host the industries and population relocated from the capital.

At present， the new area exists only on paper. Substantial planning and construction will not begin until the Xiongan New Area Government is established. Whether the builders can reasonably plan the construction by applying a balanced approach to the environment， resources， industries， the population and transportation will determine Xiongans prospects in the following decades.