Xiongan area to be role model
Standing Committee consensus: Innovation will drive development
The Xiongan New Area should become a city of innovation and a role model to promote high-quality development across the country, according to an official release after a meeting on Thursday chaired by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
It was decided that a digital city should be planned and built simultaneously in Xiongan, after the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee listened to briefings about the planning compilation of the new area.
A slew of national-level innovation programs will be built as planned by the country to make the new area innovationdriven, according to the release.
Highly efficient transportation networks should cover Xiongan, and a multilevel, people friendly network offering basic public services should be built there, the release said.
China announced its plan in April 2017 to establish Xiongan New Area.
Located about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing, Xiongan geographically covers part of Hebei province’s Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin counties.
According to the report of the 19th CPC National Congress delivered in October, the country aims to “develop forward- looking plans and adopt high standards for building Xiongan New Area”.
Patience should be ensured during the city’s construction, the statement said.
Important progress has been made in the planning compilation of Xiongan as the plan has been reviewed and perfected through in-depth surveys, discussions and soliciting advice, it said.
The planning and building of Xiongan, in pursuit of international standards and Chinese features, should fulfill the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and be under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. In addition, measures should be deliberated upon and issued in the near future to support Xiongan’s gearing up its paces of reform and opening-up.
A batch of fundamental major projects should be initiated at appropriate times to ensure a good start in the construction of the new area, the release said.
Efforts to build Xiongan should respect natural laws and result in an organized urban layout, and Xiongan should integrate regional culture, natural landscapes and the New Era’s requirement, it said.
A solar photovoltaic system has been installed on top of an artificial tree in the Xiongan New Area in Hebei province.
This system, called PV Tree, will mainly act as a solar power generation and storage station.
It will also transmit cell phone signals, provide Wi-Fi services and support environmental monitoring instruments, according to the designer, IT Electronics Eleventh Design & Research Institute Scientific and Technological Engineering Corp.
“The green power generation system has the appearance of a tree, and helps cut coal consumption while enhancing the urban landscape,” said Yang Peng, assistant to the regional head of IT Electronics in Xiongan.
Xiongan, established in April, is about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing and is slated to become a green, smart and livable area.
The PV Tree could generate about 30 kilowatt-hours a day, saving about 10 kilograms of coal and reducing corresponding emissions.
“Because it’s clean, the system is in line with the development trend of Xiongan,” said Wang Yongjiang, deputy director of State Grid Hebei Electric Power Supply Co’s Anxin branch at Baiyangdian station, where the tree was “planted”.
Wang added that if the pilot PV Tree performs well, they plan to bring in more once the final development plan for Xiongan is released.
According to plans for the new area, it will be a green and livable modern urban area with more than 70 percent of the area covered by water and trees.
Woodland coverage in Xiongan will surpass 40 percent by 2030, more than double the national average, Liu Baoling, executive deputy director of the area’s administrative committee, said earlier.