More coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will change both local industrial layout and national economic landscape, experts said.
By 2017, major breakthroughs will be achieved in transportation, environmental protection and industrial upgrades in the region, a document issued in August by the office of a leading group for the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area said.
Beijing will become the national center of politics, culture and international exchange and a technological innovation center, Tianjin will be a national research and development base for the manufacturing industry and a shipping hub for north China, while Hebei Province will be an important national base for trade and logistics and an ecological buffer zone, according to Zhang.
The central government expected the coordinated relocation of nonessential functions from Beijing would help readjust regional economic structure and nurture new growth sectors.
The medium-term target of the strategy is, by 2020, to control the permanent population of Beijing under 23 million, and to relieve Beijing's "urban illnesses" such as air pollution and road congestion.
In the long term, the aim is an integrated region with better economic structure, a cleaner environment and improved public services. The integrated region will be competitive and with a worldwide influence, according to the document issued by the leading group last month.
Priority will be given to traffic management, environmental protection, energy security and industrial upgrades. Public services will be improved and the area will be created into a better place for foreign businesses.
Innovation will be encouraged, and market forces will play a bigger role in utilizing the resources in the region.
China has long hoped to spur growth in the densely populated Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. In early July, Beijing announced it will move some of its city administration out of the city center to the eastern suburbs Tongzhou as part of the capital's contribution to the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
More coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will change both local industrial layout and national economic landscape, experts said.
