State Firms Bolster Xiongan
More than 30 central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) from power, infrastructure and transportation industries plan to seize business opportunities expected from the planned creation of the Xiongan New Area in Hebei Province, according to the website of the country’s top SOE regulator on April 10.
Central SOEs including the China Telecommunications, China Eastern Airlines, China National Machinery Industry and China Energy Engineering have all held top management meetings to discuss plans to develop the new area, according to the website of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.
To ensure sufficient clean energy supplies, the China National Offshore Oil said it will build a branch pipeline of liquefied natural gas to the Xiongan New Area, stretching from its supply network connecting its production base in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to consumption markets in northern China.
“The new area will certainly bring in people, capital and consumer goods, which requires the companies to build hospitals, industrial parks, roads, airports, energy and water supply facilities,” said Lu Huapu, a professor at Tsinghua University and a member of the expert committee advising on the integrated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
Lu said central SOEs, particularly in infrastructure, telecommunications and transportation, are not only expected to be the first batch to move their headquarters and subsidiaries to the new area, but also to be the first group of project contractors to build the infrastructure of the area.
The new area has also brought growth opportunities to financial institutions.
The China Construction Bank will establish a leading group to coordinate its business in the new area in its headquarters in Beijing, as well as set up a regional branch in the area. The China Merchants Group will also support the Xiongan New Area financially in all aspects, including bank loans, bonds, financing, public-private partnership and public listing business.