New way ahead

On April 1, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) appointed Xu Qin, former secretary of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee, who was also mayor of Shenzhen, to become deputy secretary of the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee. Many people expect him to make use of his nine years of experience in Shenzhen to aid the development of Xiongan.

However, Xiongan will not be able to compare economically with Pudong or Shenzhen in the near future, said He Lifeng on April 5.

Shenzhen took off on the back of neighboring Hong Kong. Pudong relied on Shanghai’s role as an international financial and trade center. Both the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta were natural hot spots that were already home to manufacturers and big businesses. Xiongan and its neighboring areas in Hebei have no similar economic might. Instead, Xiongan may prove to be a place where the Central Government can focus on its experiments with urbanization, supply-side reform and even governance models.

Protecting the local ecology will be a priority, as the authorities do not want to repeat the outdated practice of “pollution first, treatment later.” People will live in a cleaner and safer environment.

Innovation will be the fundamental driver in building and developing the Xiongan New Area, and policies will be put in place to bring innovative elements to the area, said He.

Xu Kuangdi, head of the Expert Advisory Committee on the Collaborative Development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, suggested that the construction of the Xiongan New Area should focus on technological and innovative industries and the region should attract high-end innovative talent and resources.

“Apart from having world-class urban planning, the architecture in the new area will also showcase Chinese cultural characteristics,” He said.

The new area together with Zhangjiakou - where the 2022 Winter Olympics will be held - are expected to become two driving forces for Hebei’s development, He said. Comments to niyanshuo@chinafrica.cn