Beijing to Develop 'Modern Capital Metropolitan Area'
China's National Development and Reform Commission has announced that Beijing is prioritizing the development of a modern capital metropolitan area. The plan aims to foster deeper integration between Beijing and its surrounding regions. This initiative signals a renewed strategic focus on coordinated urban development and regional connectivity.
- This initiative is the latest phase of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) coordinated development strategy, a major national plan first established in February 2014 to create a more integrated and balanced economic region. - The spatial coordination plan for the metropolitan area, approved by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, is set for the period of 2023-2035. - A primary goal is to relieve Beijing of its "non-capital functions," which has already involved phasing out about 3,200 manufacturing and polluting enterprises over the last decade to combat "urban ills" like pollution and traffic congestion. - The plan explicitly calls for deeper integration of industrial and innovation chains, particularly linking Beijing's science and technology resources with Tianjin's advanced manufacturing advantages. - A key component is the high-standard development of the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei, which is being built to take on many of the functions moving out of Beijing and serve as a new growth pole. - The strategy targets the creation of world-class industrial clusters in emerging sectors such as electric vehicles, biopharmaceuticals, hydrogen energy, and the industrial internet to enhance global competitiveness. - A major focus is creating an "innovation triangle" between Beijing, Tianjin, and the Xiong'an New Area to foster collaborative R&D and the development of new productive forces. - By 2023, the economic output of the broader Jing-Jin-Ji region had already grown to 10.4 trillion yuan ($1.44 trillion), a 1.9-fold increase since the coordinated development strategy began in 2013.
