Recently, the reply of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on the "Spatial Coordination Plan for the Modern Capital Metropolitan Circle (2023 - 2035)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") was released, which clearly states that formulating and implementing the "Plan" is a major measure to further promote the coordinated development strategy of Beijing - Tianjin - Hebei at a new starting point, and is of great significance for further optimizing and enhancing the functions of the capital, building a growth pole for high - quality regional development, and advancing the construction of Chinese - style modernization.
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Coordinated Development Strategy
Entering a new stage of deepening implementation
The approval document for the "Plan" points out that formulating and implementing the "Plan" is a major measure to further advance the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development strategy at a new starting point, and is of great significance for further optimizing and enhancing the functions of the capital, building a growth pole for high-quality regional development, and promoting the construction of Chinese-style modernization.
Meng Shuang, an associate professor at the School of International Economics and Trade, Central University of Finance and Economics, told reporters from Shanghai Securities News that in terms of the time node, the approval of the "Plan" coincides with the conclusion of the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the start of the "15th Five-Year Plan". It is not only a summary and improvement of the coordinated development over the past decade, but also a strategic deployment for basically realizing modernization by 2035.
Deng Huihui, a researcher at the National Institute of Opening-up of the University of International Business and Economics, stated that the approval of the "Plan" is an important institutional arrangement for deepening the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region at a new starting point. As the leading city, Beijing should take the lead and play an exemplary and leading role in strategic positioning, spatial layout, circle collaboration, and implementation guarantees.
Wu Yiqing, a researcher at Hebei University of Economics and Business and director of the Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center for the Coordinated Development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, believes that the approval of the "Plan" marks that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development strategy has entered a new stage of deepening implementation and will inject new impetus into the long-term development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Hebei will achieve a systematic transformation from an "undertaker" to a "supporter", bringing about profound changes in the roles and functions of various cities.
Wu Qidi, Director of the Securities Research Institute of Yuanda Information, stated that in order to achieve "proactive support and coordinated development" and seize the opportunities of the times, Hebei can focus on several aspects of work, including strengthening planning alignment, promoting in-depth integration of special plans of various cities with the approval of the "Plan" to form functionally complementary urban development strategies, and building a modern industrial collaboration network, laying out supporting industrial chains around the innovation sources in Beijing and Tianjin, and enhancing local transformation and supporting capabilities.
The spatial pattern of the capital metropolitan area has become a highlight
The approval of the "Plan" proposes to focus on optimizing the urban system in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. It aims to build a spatial pattern of the capital metropolitan circle characterized by "one core, two wings; two cities, multiple points; two corridors, multiple circles".
Many interviewed experts have stated that in the spatial pattern of the capital metropolitan area proposed in the approval of the "Plan", the "One Core and Two Wings" plays a crucial strategic supporting role. Among them, the "One Core" refers to the core area of the capital's functions, and the "Two Wings" are the Beijing Urban Sub-center and the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei Province.
Some experts have stated that compared with the "Greater Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei" concept of the "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration" in the previous top-level design, the approval of the "Plan" focuses more on the core area of the "Capital Circle". It aims to create a more competitive whole through spatial restructuring and functional coordination. In this "circular layer" pattern, the development of the urban agglomeration relies on the linkage of multiple key nodes. For example, Beijing and Tianjin, as the two core cities with the largest scale and energy level in the region, their linkage can drive the development of surrounding "multiple points", and ultimately form an organic circular layer system with complementary functions and nested layers.
Meng Shuang stated that the capital metropolitan area is the core region of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, and its development quality is directly related to the overall national strategy. The plan promotes the linkage of the "three circles" - the commuting circle, functional circle, and industrial collaboration circle - by establishing a spatial pattern of "one core with two wings, two cities and multiple points, two corridors and multiple circles," providing a demonstration model for the construction of metropolitan areas across the country. In addition, focusing on optimizing the hierarchical structure of the capital metropolitan area, the approval of the "Plan" proposes to build the Beijing-Tianjin and Beijing-Xiong'an corridors, and arrange Beijing's plain new towns, Beijing's ecological conservation areas, commuting circles, functional circles, and industrial collaboration circles in a hierarchical manner.
According to the hierarchical layout of commuting circles, functional circles, and industrial collaboration circles, Beijing needs to pay more attention to the construction of commuting circles with rail transit as the framework to promote job-housing balance and integrated urban development. At the same time, at the functional circle level, it is necessary to promote the coordination between the central urban area and the urban sub-center, and give play to the demonstration role of the urban sub-center in relieving non-capital functions and driving regional collaboration. In the industrial collaboration circle, we should promote the rational flow of factors and the optimization of functional division of labor," Deng Huihui told reporters.
The approval of the "Plan" also proposes to build Xiongan New Area in Hebei Province with high standards and high quality, develop the Beijing Urban Sub-center into a new growth pole for the capital's development, and promote the "two wings" to soar in tandem. Many interviewed experts believe that Xiongan New Area, as the other wing, is becoming a centralized undertaking place for relieving non-capital functions. In the future, it is expected that through the construction of the Beijing-Xiongan talent and sci-tech innovation corridor, the sharing and complementarity of innovation resources will be realized.
Focus on the "key driving points" of coordinated development
At the industrial level, the approval of the "Plan" proposes to build an industrial collaborative innovation pattern of "two corridors and four belts", develop new productive forces in accordance with local conditions, promote the in-depth integration of innovation chains and industrial chains, and develop advanced manufacturing clusters.
Deng Huihui believes that we should seize the opportunity of spatial restructuring brought about by the construction of the "Two Corridors". "Centering on the two key corridors of Beijing-Tianjin and Beijing-Xiongan, Beijing should optimize the layout of innovation elements and functions in a broader scope. Relying on the Beijing-Tianjin corridor, Beijing should accelerate the construction of a high-level opening-up and comprehensive innovation carrying space; focusing on the Beijing-Xiongan corridor, we should focus on promoting the orderly relocation of non-capital functions, and the coordinated layout of scientific and technological innovation and institutional innovation, so that the corridor can become an important fulcrum for the optimization of the capital's functions and regional coordination," she said.
Experts said that the approval of the "Plan" has clarified the functions of the "two corridors". The "Beijing-Tianjin Corridor" is positioned as a comprehensive innovation corridor with "intensive intellectual resources and a high level of opening up to the outside world"; the "Beijing-Xiong'an Corridor" is positioned as a high-quality development corridor focusing on "function relocation and undertaking, and technological innovation". Against this background, the approval of the "Plan" emphasizes that Tianjin should "strengthen the construction of the core area of northern international shipping". Its significance lies not only in strengthening a transportation hub, but also in embedding a powerful "export-oriented engine" into the entire capital metropolitan circle, giving birth to an export-oriented economy serving the international circulation. The ultimate goal is to aggregate regional industrial advantages and jointly cultivate world-class clusters of manufacturing and producer services.
Shi Yuqiang, former inspector of the Hebei Provincial Department of Commerce and chief economist of the Hebei Capital and Industry Promotion Association, said that the "two corridors" will bring direct and significant benefits to Hebei. Among them, the Beijing-Xiong'an Corridor is positioned as a high-quality development corridor featuring functional relief, technological innovation and institutional innovation. The Beijing-Tianjin Corridor is positioned as a comprehensive innovation corridor characterized by intellectual density, open connectivity and dual circulation.
Hebei is expected to focus on the following arrangements to seize the dividends of the 'corridor economy'. Specifically, in terms of industrial collaboration, it plans to build a number of high-level collaborative innovation parks and establish cross-regional industry-university-research cooperation mechanisms; in terms of transportation interconnection, it will accelerate the improvement of the express road network within the corridor and promote the integrated development of transportation hubs and urban functions; in terms of policies, it is expected to strengthen the collaborative mechanism of market supervision in the region and reduce institutional transaction costs," Wu Qidi told reporters.
