Hegang gets green light for expansion

The State Council has issued a notice approving the overall urban planning (200620) for the city of Hegang in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province.

Hegang is an important industrial energy city and a major city located in the northeastern part of Heilongjiang. According to the plan, an area of 1,067 square kilometers was designated for coordinated rural and urban development.

The plan, revised this year, called on efforts to improve management of the suburban areas, expand public facilities to serve neighboring villages, develop the growth potential of counties and key villages, and optimize the overall layout of villages and towns.

The document said, by 2020, the city’s downtown population should be kept under the ceiling of 860,000, and urban construction land should be limited to 98 square kilometers.

No more development zones or districts should be established beyond the designated construction areas. The use of construction land will be controlled, and protection of arable land will be strengthened, the plan said.

Urban amenities, including the transport systems, parking lots, underground pipelines and disaster prevention systems, should be improved, the document said.

The plan also stressed efforts for resource conservation and environmental protection, by reducing outdated production capacity, controlling polluting emissions and effectively using water resources. cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and deepen trade and investment cooperation, according to the document.

The notice urged provincial governments to take responsibility for formulating implementation plans as soon as possible. The document said the Ministry of Commerce will coordinate and oversee the development of the industrial parks.