Neighbors prepare for functional transfer from Beijing

Beijing's neighboring Hebei Province is planning to step up development of its Baoding City in preparation for the transfer of some functions from the congested Beijing. According to an urbanization document issued on Wednesday, the province will enlarge the size of Baoding to be able to accommodate administrative organs, colleges and universities, research institutions, medical and nursing services transferring from Beijing. The document was released by the Hebei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Hebei Provincial Government to solicit feedback. With a high-tech center and modern industrial bases to be built, Baoding will also develop the industries of high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy, energy-saving and environmental protection, airport economy and modern logistics from 2014 to 2020, said the document. About 140 km from Beijing, Baoding covers an area of 20,000 square km, with a population of 10 million. Baoding will also try to improve its broader infrastructure in anticipation of the influx of administrative organs and enterprises. Another city, Langfang, located between Beijing and Tianjin Municipality, will also boost its service sector so as to serve as an ecological and recreational zone for the capital, the document said. It was released after Chinese President Xi Jinping called for coordinated development of the region around Beijing in late February. Xi said urban layout and structure needs to be optimized and division of city functions enhanced when building the economic zone surrounding Beijing, adding that optimizing industrial distribution and overall planning for resources should be focuses. In early March, coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was included in the report on the work of the Chinese government.