00:00 Visiting Xiongan New Area, China's Third New City
02:08 How is it different from Shenzhen and Shanghai?
03:04 How much has been relocated from Beijing?
04:39 All the infrastructure is in place, but there are no people
06:02 What Xiongan New Area needs to take root
1. Visiting Xiongan New Area, China's Third New City
Hello, I am Choi Go-un, correspondent in Beijing. Today, I am going to share behind-the-scenes stories from my reporting trip to the Xiongan New Area, a new city that China calls a "millennium-long project" and is personally spearheaded by President Xi Jinping. Throughout modern Chinese history, influential leaders have always left behind a "symbolic city" that embodies their policy philosophy. For instance, Deng Xiaoping, who emphasized reform and opening-up, turned Shenzhen—where the upcoming APEC summit is scheduled to be held next month—into a special zone to revive the economy. During the era of Jiang Zemin, Pudong in Shanghai was developed into a financial hub. The third new city being state-driven by China is the somewhat difficult-to-pronounce Xiongan New Area. Administratively, Xiongan is a small town in Hebei Province located just south of Beijing and Tianjin. It is a special economic zone formed across three counties named Xiongxian, Rongcheng, and Anxin, hence the name Xiongan, derived from the first syllables of these names. I had the opportunity to visit this area by participating in an inspection program organized by the Beijing branch of the Korea International Trade Association. After driving for about two hours, a neatly arranged eight-lane round-trip road unfolded, followed by a sign for the Xiongan New Area. The first place I visited was the Xiongan New Area Comprehensive Service Support Center. It has not officially opened yet, but the words "National Grand Project" were written in very large red letters at the front. You can understand it as President Xi's masterpiece and ultimate convergence aimed at decentralizing the population and functions excessively concentrated in the capital city of Beijing, while showcasing the standard for future smart cities. Many buildings have already gone up in the central district, and tower cranes were moving restlessly to construct buildings that are not yet finished. A high-speed railway station connecting all parts of China was also under construction. Once completed, the high-speed rail will allow travel from Hebei, through Shanxi Province, all the way to Kunming in Yunnan Province, according to reports.
[Li Yuntao / Vice Chairman, Hebei Council for the Promotion of International Trade: According to the national and provincial 15th Five-Year Plans, Xiongan is set to be developed into a modern city of the highest standard and quality. Specifically, there are six core industrial fields. These include aerospace information, new materials, and artificial intelligence.]
2. How Is It Different from Shenzhen and Shanghai?
However, there were significant differences from Shenzhen and Shanghai mentioned earlier. Xiongan New Area has been neatly built focusing on low-rise buildings, with absolutely no flashy high-rise skyscrapers. An official from the Xiongan New Area explained that no building can exceed a maximum of 45 floors. Right next to the Xiongan New Area lies Baiyangdian, the largest natural wetland in northern China; the official explained that height regulations are strictly maintained to preserve the wetland ecosystem and prevent tall building skylines from ruining the natural scenery. The Xiongan New Area features a triple-layer structure. Green spaces and pedestrian-centric areas are arranged on the ground, while infrastructure such as gas, electricity, communications, and logistics is entirely placed underground. Sensors and artificial intelligence road networks supporting autonomous vehicles are laid out across roads, and all these facilities are controlled by real-time Internet of Things data.
3. How Much Has Been Relocated from Beijing?
Now, you must be wondering whether Beijing's functions have actually been relocated to this massive future city to a large extent. First, in accordance with government administrative orders, the headquarters of major central state-owned enterprises such as China Huaneng Group, Sinochem, and China Satellite Network have already completed their preemptive relocations or are scheduled to move. Renowned universities in Beijing, such as Beijing Jiaotong University, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China University of Geosciences, and Beijing Forestry University, are also building campuses in Xiongan. When this question came up during the Q&A session, the response was that instead of students moving sequentially starting with incoming freshmen, next year all personnel, from incoming freshmen to graduate students, will be relocated entirely in one batch.
[Zhao Yao / Foreign Investment and Foreign Affairs Department, Xiongan New Area: Regarding high-quality educational resources, which is one of the core elements of this region's development, more than 20 top-tier universities from across China are scheduled to expand into Xiongan. Furthermore, various support policies have been established to promote overall corporate growth, industrial upgrading, and talent cultivation.]
They added that so-called "market-driven relocation" is also being promoted.
[This is the newly established science and innovation complex, where around 280 companies, including those in artificial intelligence and robotics, have already registered or moved in.]
[Xiongan New Area Incoming Corporate Researcher: It is starting to rain.]
[Robot: I will get you an umbrella.]
The blueprint drawn by the Chinese government appears clear. Beijing will remain the political and cultural center, while Xiongan will be built as a new capital for advanced IT, eco-friendly research, and education. To achieve this, they emphasized that they will actively reach out to various entities, such as high-tech enterprises and foreign-invested companies, to encourage them to visit the Xiongan New Area and establish their bases there.
4. All Infrastructure Is in Place, But There Are No People
However, there is a problem: the resident population. No matter where you look around the Xiongan New Area, roads, buildings, and infrastructure are impeccably equipped, but there seemed to be very few people walking on the streets. Chinese authorities have set a goal to attract a resident population of 2 million to 2.5 million by 2035. However, the currently perceived resident population is only around 1.4 million, falling far short of the target. China has a household registration system called Hukou. To receive public services such as education or medical care in a given city, one must hold that city's Hukou. Keeping this in mind, the Xiongan New Area emphasized that it has already been administratively integrated with Beijing.
[Zhao Yao / Foreign Investment and Foreign Affairs Department, Xiongan New Area: If you hold a Beijing Hukou, it is the same as holding a Hukou in the Xiongan New Area. As long as you are issued a residence permit in Xiongan, you can enjoy all services—such as education, medical care, and shopping—just like local residents, exactly as if you were in the same city.]
However, turning these conditions around means that state-owned enterprise employees and faculty members can still work in Xiongan on weekdays and readily return to their homes in Beijing by high-speed rail or car over the weekend. This is because, while administrative power can move buildings and institutions, it cannot forcibly relocate people's actual lives.
5. What Xiongan New Area Needs to Take Root
Ultimately, for the Xiongan New Area to take root, two major issues appear to need resolution. First, relying solely on state-owned enterprises and universities that the government can order around has limitations in sustaining a city. Therefore, drastic deregulation and tax incentives seem necessary so that startups and private companies can seek it out on their own. Second are the so-called settlement conditions, such as children's education and cultural facilities. Simply put, true population influx will occur only when prestigious schools, general hospitals, and cultural facilities operate within daily life to an extent that gives people the perception that living in Xiongan offers a higher quality of life than Beijing. China has poured about 200 trillion Korean won of our money into the Xiongan New Area over the past 10 years, and plans to pump in about 800 trillion won more going forward. We will have to see whether President Xi's "millennium-long project," Xiongan, can go beyond clean and excellent urban infrastructure to transform into a famous city where people actually live, much like Shenzhen or Shanghai.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Reported by Choi Go-un | Produced by Shin Hee-suk | Video by Yang A-ta | Video Editing by Hong Jin-young | Design by Yang Hye-min | Source: Douyin | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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