THE framework plan for Xiong-an New Area was deliberated at a conference on the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region held in Beijing on Tuesday.

Xiongan New Area is a new economic zone near Beijing designed to integrate the capital with surrounding areas.

According to the plan, more domestic and foreign talent will be invited to participate in the creation of Xiongan, and investment, finance, tax and land policies will be formulated.

Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli presided over the conference, saying the work of relieving Beijing of functions nonessential to its role as the capital has progressed smoothly so far. A batch of major projects for the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in transportation, ecology and industry have shown good results.

China announced plans in April 2017 to establish Xiongan New Area, about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing. It covers Hebei Province’s Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin counties.

Its main function is to serve as a development hub for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jingjinji) economic triangle. Additionally, “noncore” functions of the Chinese capital are expected to migrate there, including offices of some State-owned enterprises, government agencies, and research and development facilities.

The country aims to “develop forward-looking plans and adopt high standards for building Xiongan New Area,” according to the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October.

President Xi Jinping said the area would be “a demonstration area for innovative development ... [which] should prioritize ecological protection [and] improve people’s well-being.”

Poised at the same level as the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Shanghai Pudong New Area, Xiongan New Area is “crucial for the millennium to come,” according to a circular of the Xinhua News Agency.

Xiongan’s creation would reduce pressure on China’s car-clogged, 22 million-resident capital, and “usher in a new chapter in the country’s historic transitioning to coordinated, inclusive and sustainable growth,” the report said.

Detailed construction work plans for the area are under way, Chen Gang, head of the Xiongan New Area administration, said in October.

The plans call for priority to be given to ecological protection, green development, a people-centered development path and traditional Chinese culture, Chen said.

(Xinhua)