Xiongan New Area: Hebei leaders visit top SOEs in Xi Jinping’s push to ease pressure on Beijing
- Xiongan plan viewed with suspicion because it is not near any regional commercial hub and workers do not want to move from China’s capital: analyst
- Hebei governor Wang Zhengpu urges energy giants to speed up existing projects in the province
Top officials from Hebei province have visited some of China’s biggest state firms in Beijing as part of President Xi Jinping’s push to relocate some leading institutional headquarters to one of Xi’s signature projects.
Hebei Communist Party secretary Ni Yuefeng visited the Beijing headquarters of the country’s three main telecommunications operators – China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom – last week, according to a report by the official Hebei Daily on Monday.
00:54
China’s new megacity Xiongan takes shape near Beijing with residential area ready by summer 2023
Ni also visited top aerospace groups China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, energy conglomerates the State Grid Corporation of China and China Energy Investment Corporation and electronics giant China Electronics Technology Group Corporation.
On the last day of his Beijing visit, Ni visited the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering – two top national research institutes performing high-level science and engineering research.
According to the report, during the same period Hebei governor Wang Zhengpu visited the National Energy Administration and major SOEs in the energy sector, including the China National Nuclear Corporation, China Huaneng Group, China Datang Corporation, as well as China’s mega state-owned investment groups Citic Group and State Development and Investment Corporation (SDIC).
Xi signals fresh drive to move Chinese state institutions out of Beijing
Hebei Daily said the representative from key SOEs welcomed Ni and his team, and promised to “resolutely implement” Xi’s instructions and contribute more to the high-standard and high-quality development of Xiongan New Area and the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.
Qin Feng, a senior researcher at the Communication University of China’s Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and world affairs institute, said the latest visit by Hebei top cadres showed Xi’s “strong determination” to push Xiongan was now clearly felt by the officials in charge.
“Things are moving faster now, despite continued resistance from the ground,” Qin said.
01:42
Chinese backwater becomes centre of Xi’s futuristic dream city
The Xiongan plan has been viewed with suspicion by observers because the landlocked area is not near any regional commercial hub and people who enjoy Beijing’s quality education and healthcare are reluctant to move to Hebei.
“It is very clear now, like it or not, they have to move. Those who refuse to move will be removed, ” Qin said.
Ni promised that Hebei was fully prepared to embrace the SOEs, financial, scientific research and public institutions and well known private enterprises from Beijing with open arms. He said the host province would strengthen policy incentives and improve services to create a good environment for development in Hebei, according to the report.
When visiting three top Chinese telecoms operators and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, he specifically called for the aerospace and satellite industry to be developed.
Bay area special zones to speed up tax, legal incentives for offshore funds
According to a development plan released last year, Xiongan identified aerospace and satellite communication as major industry clusters to be fostered, while continuing to strengthen the BeiDou satellite industry chain and develop new navigation application services.
Hebei governor Wang urged the energy giants to speed up existing projects in Hebei and plan to bring online new high-quality projects in power supply security, power engineering construction, nuclear power and clean energy development.
When visiting investment groups Citic and SDIC, Wang said he hoped they could actively provide finance for enterprises in Hebei and help introduce more hi-tech industrial projects in Hebei.
