Build a Capital Economic Circle for Coordinated Development

By+staff+reporter+LUO+YUANJUN

THE Beijing-centered economic circle has been on the table for several years. The Overall Plan for Beijing Urban Construction in 1982 proposed a capital economic circle. In November of 2004， the National Development and Reform Commission （NDRC） formally proposed the regional development plan for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei bloc. It was reiterated in the nations 12th Five-year Plan（2011-2015） for social and economic development. Thereafter the capital economic circle has been upgraded to a national priority.

Chinas new leadership attaches great importance to shaping the Beijing-centered economic belt. In August of 2013， President Xi Jinping advocated coordinated development for Beijing， Tianjin and Hebei when he presided over a meeting held in Beidaihe of Hebei Province about the issues related to Hebeis development. Xi later issued several instructions on this regions coordinated development. In the March 5 government work report Premier Li Keqiang also pointed out that efforts should be made to enhance economic cooperation in the Bohai Rim region and the BeijingTianjin-Hebei area.

As for how to build the capital economic circle， Zhou Benshun， secretary of CPC Hebei Provincial Committee， suggested that policymakers should start from the issues on which consensus already exists. Currently， there is a strong consensus in three aspects： first， improve environmental quality； second， adjust economic structure； and third， achieve integration of regional transport infrastructure.

Working Together to Improve the Natural Environment

For ordinary Beijing residents， one of the biggest benefits of the 2008 Olympic Games was the vastly improved environment. In order to guarantee more “blue sky” days in 2008， the Beijing municipal government relocated some of the major pollutant discharging enterprises to other areas. However， since the beginning of 2013， heavy pollution hit Beijing again. In the most serious month， four days out of five were smoggy.

Air pollution is also quite serious in Hebei Province. In 2013， seven Hebei cities ranked among Chinas top ten in poor air quality. As Hebei surrounds Beijing， its bad environment inevitably and directly affects the capital. As the smog pollution is not confined to certain areas or cities， joint efforts by different areas are required to achieve better treatment results.

Although politically distinct， Beijing， Tianjin and Hebei are effectively one region and share one integrated regional system in terms of geology， landform， climate， soil and bioroenosis. Consequently， they also share the same environmental problems： serious air pollution， severe shortage of water resources and water pollution， and a deteriorating natural environment.

On February 26 of 2014， President Xi Jinping directed after listening to work reports on Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development that efforts be made to expand environmental capacity and ecological space and enhance environmental protection. On the basis of establishing cooperation mechanisms for preventing air pollution， cooperation mechanisms in other areas such as afforestation， water protection， water treatment and the utilization of clean energy should also be improved.

The three localities have taken concrete actions to improve the environment through joint efforts. In September of 2013， four ministries released a detailed implementation plan for air pollution prevention and control in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region， as a guideline for implementing the Airborne Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan （2013-2017）. Besides launching the cooperation mechanism for air pollution prevention and control it is estimated that other cooperation mechanisms in water resources protection， water environment treatment and the utilization of clean energy will be improved in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Wu Bin， director of the ecological research center under the State Forestry Administration， believes that the coordinated regional development requires priority on planning ecological space. He pointed out that ecological civilization should be policymakers first concern in advancing urban growth， and correspondingly， economic development and lifestyles should keep ecological interests in mind. During the process of integration， policy-making should be scientific and take account of expert suggestions and opinions. Environmental abuses should be avoided by careful planning with respect to natural spaces， land utilization and water use.

Complementary Economic Structure

The Beijing Zoo Wholesale Market， established in the mid-1980s， is the larg- est clothes wholesale market in northern China. The market has the reputation as a “shopping paradise.” Many film stars， including famous actress Fan Bingbing， have shopped here. On April 3 of 2014， the government of Hebeis Langfang City signed an agreement with the government of Beijings Xicheng District to move the market to Langfang.

Beijing currently has over 120 wholesale markets in the city center and the total number is more than 1，300 in Beijing at large. They draw large numbers of people， causing major traffic jams. Therefore， decentralization is demanded. Transferring some markets to neighboring regions both alleviates Beijings problem and makes neighboring economies more robust. If some of the industries are directed to Hebei， the provinces current economic structure is expected to alter.

Beijing， Tianjin and Hebei represent a total population exceeding 100 million and a total area of 216，000 square kilometers. With scale equal to the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta， the capital economic circle ranks among the biggest regional economic blocs in China. In order to promote coordinated regional development， President Xi Jinping said integrated regional development should be based on the comparative advantages and modern industrial divisions of each region， as well as the principle of complementary regional advantages and mutually beneficial cooperation. Also， integrated development should be accelerated in width and depth by building city clusters in the Beijing-centered region. Their focus should be on optimizing regional industrial divisions and distributions， making an overall plan for resources and building a long-term and effective system and mechanism.

For many years， Beijing， Tianjin and Hebei have had a division of labor in industry. Hebei is dominated by secondary industries， such as iron and steel， coal， electric power and light industry. Beijing， as the center of politics， science and technology innovation， human resources and international exchange， is a center for high-end service， technology and culture industries. Tianjin boasts a strong foundation for commerce and manufacture； therefore its advantage lies in advanced manufacture， sci-tech research， develop-ment and application.

Yang Weimin， vice head of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs， said that Beijing is overloaded with functions， many of which should not be shouldered by the national capital. Administrators must change the convention of developing all functions by transferring part to neighboring cities. This will bring coordinated and complementary development among cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area.

In order to rationally divide work and complement each others advantages and enhance overall competitiveness in the region， the three localities have made clear their positions based on their characteristics. Beijing will build a knowledge and service-driven economy， such as finance， insurance， tourism， culture and other high-end service industries. Tianjin， with a population exceeding 10 million， will see the proportion of service industries in its total economy grow to surpass 50 percent. Hebei has undertaken many manufacturing production projects that have been transferred from Beijing and Tianjin.

Integrated Transportation System

In April of 2014， Tianjin Airport opened a terminal at Beijing South Railway Station. Passengers in Beijing can now take the express train to Tianjin Railway Station and then take a bus to Tianjin Binhai International Airport， both free of charge. The trip is 30 minutes shorter than to Beijing Capital International Airport. What brings Beijng and Tianjin closer is the Beijing-Tianjin High-Speed Rail that started operation in 2008. It is Chinas first intercity high-speed rail for trains traveling at more than 300 kilometers per hour， as well as Chinas first passenger highspeed line. The travel time between the two cities is now only 29 minutes.

In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region， besides the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail， there are other high-speed lines such as the Beijing-Shijiazhuang passenger rail line， the Tianjin-Qinhuangdao high-speed line and the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway. The travel time between major cities， such as BeijingTianjin， Beijing-Shijiazhuang， TianjinTangshan and Tianjin-Qinhuangdao is around one hour， forming a “one-hour”city circle.

Roadways in this region are also very convenient. The major urban centers are joined by an efficient network of major highways. Hebei and Beijing have six highway interfaces， while Hebei and Tianjin have nine. In 2013， an electronic toll collection system went into operation covering Beijing， Tianjin， Hebei， Shanxi and Shandong， allowing drivers to pay expressway tolls without stopping.

In February of 2014， President Xi Jinping explicitly put forward seven requirements while listening to the work reports on the integrated development of Beijing， Tianjin and Hebei. Regarding transportation， Xi urged that integrated transportation should be a priority and efforts should focus on building a modern transportation network. He suggested accelerated construction of a comprehensive transportation network featuring connectivity， high speed， convenience， efficiency， safety， high capacity and low cost. In 2014， the three localities will communicate on transport infrastructure construction plans and accelerate the pace of transportation integration.

According to the plan， by 2020， a 9，000-kilometer network of expressways and a major city three-hour road traffic circle will be built in the region. Beijing and Tianjin will be united by the old Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu and BeijingTianjing highways， as well as the BeijingTaipei Highway which is expected to be finished by the end of 2014. Then Beijing and Tianjin will be just an hour apart by road. In the larger Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area， it will take less than three hours from either Beijing or Tianjin to reach major cities around Hebei Province， such as Baoding， Tangshan， Huanghua and Cangzhou.

The integrated transportation system is taking shape in the area， including the Beijing outer expressway ring， six transportation channels that extend in six directions with Beijing as the center， two airports – Beijing Capital International Airport and another new airport in Beijing， as well as five seaports， namely Qinhuangdao Port， Jingtang Port， Caofeidian Port， Tainjin Port and Huanghua Port.