Economy >Guidelines and Policies
The integration of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei
Integrating Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei originated from the concept of Capital Economic Circle which covered Beijing and Tianjin municipalities and 11 cities in Hebei Province: Baoding, Tangshan, Shijiazhuang, Handan, Xingtai, Hengshui, Cangzhou, Qinhuangdao, Langfang, Zhangjiakou and Chengde. On March 5, 2014, Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council, first put forward the idea when he made a government work report. The policy, once carried out, will help promote the economic growth of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, optimize their development strategies, boost the confidence of all sectors in society, relieve the pressure on traffic, housing and medical care in Beijing, and bring proper planning to people's lives and a better quality of life.
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Team formed to boost Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration

A leading team and office to promote the synergetic development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province has been set up by China's cabinet, with Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli appointed director, people.cn reported on Aug 8. Integration of Beijing with its two neighboring provincial areas will be speeded up after the creation of this office, said Hu Cunzhi, vice-minster of the Land and Resources Ministry. The three regions are new engines that will boost China's economy growth, said Xu Yaotong, professor of China National Administration School. The integration of these areas will get a substantial boost, he added.

Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin integration on track

A plan aimed at integrating Beijing's development with two adjacent provincial areas will be submitted to the country's top economic planning body this week, after rumors that the strategy has been postponed. The plan includes Beijing municipal government's potential cooperation with two neighboring provincial areas, Hebei province and Tianjin municipality, Aastocks.com reported on Monday. The report said that, among other potential cooperation under way, Beijing and Hebei province have managed to hammer out at least one cooperation that could involve an investment of 5 billion yuan ($805 million) on five aspects - the building of industrial parks, environmental protection, rail transportation construction, automobile manufacturing and logistics. The idea of coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province gained momentum after President Xi Jinping envisioned the grand strategy in late February. The three provincial areas, covering 107 million people, are drawing up respective plans to materialize the strategy, and a national plan will be worked out based on the three proposals. Fan Hengshan, vice-general-secretary of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference previously that the national strategy is expected to optimize industrial layout and improve the allocation of the resources. But China Business News reported that the release of the strategy has been delayed from the previous estimate of June. Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform did not respond to China Daily's request to confirm the authentication of the report as of Monday afternoon, but Dai Ying, a media official from the commission, said the commission is leading the drafting of the plan.

New plan in the making

The National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, is working with related authorities and regional governments on a development plan to boost the economic integration of Beijing and its surrounding provincial areas, namely Tianjin municipality and Hebei province. The three areas are the important economic growth engines in North China, and play a significant role in leading national economic development. Better guidelines to promote the economic integration of the areas would help them complement each other with respective advantages, as well as propelling economic transformation and upgrading the Bohai Sea rim.

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1 The integration of China's capital Beijing and its two neighboring provincial areas will give the region a powerful boost, the way the City of Los Angeles rose to prosperity after annexation with surrounding gateway counties, chinanews.com reported Tuesday.

2 The National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, is working with related authorities and regional governments on a development plan to boost the economic integration of Beijing and its surrounding provincial areas, namely Tianjin municipality and Hebei province, according to its official website on Wednesday.

3 On March 19, one of China's most circulated economic magazines, Caijing Magazine, reported that the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei regions had reached an agreement to appoint Hebei's Baoding city as the country's political sub-capital. Several government officials later denied the report the same day, but it is widely viewed as a signal for further stepped-up Beijing-Hebei-Tianjin integration.