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Steady development boosts regional integration The planning and construction of the Xiongan New Area has achieved substantial progress in the past few months, and a series of projects are being steadily conducted, an official said over the weekend. [Special Coverage] Projects are advancing in a stable manner in the Xiongan New Area, He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said on Saturday at a press conference on the sidelines of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Forest planting has begun in the new area, He said, and preliminary work for a high-speed railway link from Beijing to Xiongan is also being conducted. "We will strive to start the construction [of the railway link] as quickly as possible," he said. During the previous few months, the Chinese government has employed more than 300 experts from home and abroad as well as 12 teams in the planning process, which is based on international standards, Chinese characteristics and high requirements for the new economic zone, said He. "According to my knowledge, the planning has entered the final critical phase, and it has been revised and polished repeatedly," he noted. The NDRC is making joint efforts with local authorities to set up a policy framework for Xiongan, and the framework will be rolled out together with the planning after the latter is approved, according to the NDRC, the country's top economic planner. The building of the Xiongan New Area and a sub-center for the capital is an important part of China's integration plan for Jing-Jin-Ji, a coordinated development of Beijing, North China's Tianjin and Hebei Province, He said. China announced the national strategy of the integration plan for Jing-Jin-Ji in February 2014 and there has been rapid progress in sectors including transportation, education and medical treatment, the NDRC official noted. There has also been progress in industrial upgrading and transfer within the area, He said, adding that Beijing has transferred a batch of corporate projects to Tianjin and Hebei. Local governments have focused on environmental protection and such efforts are expected to continue, said the official. The State Council, China's cabinet, announced the development of the Xiongan New Area on April 1. It is located in Hebei Province, some 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing and it spans three counties - Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin - which sit at the center of the triangular area formed by Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang, Hebei's capital. |
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