Outlook: Chronicles of State Governance｜Building the "Xiong'an Model" with High Standards and High Quality

◇On May 10, 2023, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected Xiongan New Area in Hebei Province, presided over a symposium on promoting the construction of Xiongan New Area with high standards and high quality, and delivered an important speech. He emphasized that Xiongan New Area has entered a stage of giving equal importance to large-scale construction and taking over non-capital functions from Beijing, and the focus of work has shifted to high-quality construction, high-level management, and high-quality development. We must strengthen our confidence, maintain our determination, take steady steps, do a good job, and promote continuous progress in all work.

◇Focusing on high standards and high quality requirements, Hebei Province has promoted Xiongan's urban construction, relocation and industrial development with high quality, insisted on innovation-driven development, strengthened smart applications, taken multiple measures to protect the natural ecology, improved the level of refined grassroots governance, and strived to build a "city of the future", "smart city", "ecological city" and "people's city", and built a "Xiongan model" with high standards and high quality.

◇For each relocation project, the new district will define a team, formulate a set of plans, and stick to it to the end, providing high-quality one-stop comprehensive services such as registration, land supply, approval, and construction for the relocation units.

◇In order to build a full-area city Hongmeng system, the Xiongan City Hongmeng Innovation Laboratory was unveiled and the city Hongmeng Building was put into use. Hongmeng technology will be piloted and demonstrated in the fields of smart parks, urban energy management, etc.

◇In accordance with the requirements of "reduction, harmlessness and resource utilization", Xiongan continues to improve the level of refined management of five types of waste, including domestic waste, construction waste, agricultural solid waste, industrial hazardous waste, and general industrial solid waste, and build a "low-carbon growth" city.

◇5 minutes to kindergarten, 10 minutes to primary school, 15 minutes to middle school... The 41 newly opened schools in the newly built area of ​​Xiongan New Area all meet this walking time standard.

Text | Li Fengshuang, Zhang Tao, Qi Leijie, Su Kaiyang, reporters of Outlook News Weekly

The midsummer sun is scorching, and the construction of the Xiongan New Area startup area is in full swing: the east-west axis public transportation network continues to extend horizontally; in the Xiongan Intercity Station and China World Trade Center area, buildings are growing rapidly...

The establishment of Xiongan New Area in Hebei is a major decision and deployment made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core to relieve Beijing's non-capital functions and deepen the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. It is a long-term plan and a national event. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that we must implement the requirements of high-quality development, create "Xiongan quality", and become a model for the whole country in promoting high-quality development.

On May 10, 2023, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected Xiongan New Area in Hebei Province, presided over a symposium on promoting the construction of Xiongan New Area with high standards and high quality, and delivered an important speech. He emphasized that Xiongan New Area has entered a stage of giving equal importance to large-scale construction and taking over non-capital functions from Beijing, and the focus of work has shifted to high-quality construction, high-level management, and high-quality development. We must strengthen our confidence, maintain our determination, take steady steps, do a good job, and promote continuous progress in all work.

In June 2023, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee reviewed the Opinions on Several Policy Measures to Support the High-standard and High-quality Construction of Xiongan New Area, and launched a package of special support policies to inject strong impetus into the large-scale construction of Xiongan and the transfer of non-capital functions from Beijing, as well as the high-standard and high-quality construction of Xiongan New Area. Hebei Province and Xiongan New Area have refined and implemented policy measures and continued to increase resource input.

Focusing on high standards and high quality requirements, Hebei Province has promoted Xiongan's urban construction, relocation and industrial development with high quality. It has insisted on innovation-driven development, strengthened smart applications, taken multiple measures to protect the natural ecology, improved the level of refined grassroots governance, and strived to build a "city of the future", "smart city", "ecological city" and "people's city", and built a "Xiongan model" with high standards and high quality.

On the banks of Baiyangdian Lake, a modern new city is accelerating its rise and continuing to move towards becoming a model city that is “indescribable” and “longed for”.

Xiongan New Area Business Service Center Photo by Mou Yu/This magazine

In the morning light, the Xiongan Intercity Station and the China World Trade Center area are under the rotation of cranes and the roar of machines. After completion, this will become the vibrant gateway and city landmark of the Xiongan New Area.

The design concept of this area is "station, city and people as one". Xiong'an Intercity Station Hub, Beijing-Xiongan Express Terminal Station, China World Trade Center and the East-West Axis Public Transportation meet here. Passengers can check in, go through security checks and baggage check-in at the Beijing-Xiongan Express Terminal, and take the Beijing-Xiongan Express to quickly reach Beijing Daxing Airport.

Fu Xing, deputy general manager of Xiong'an Xiongshang Development Co., Ltd., told the Outlook Weekly reporter that the underground space of about 1.1 million square meters in the area will be built into an "underground city", which is roughly equivalent to the area of ​​154 standard football fields. High-speed rail and subway transfers are carried out on the underground level, allowing passengers to experience "entering the city as soon as they leave the station."

At present, the Xiongan New Area has 383 key projects, including the Xiongan Intercity Station and the China World Trade Center area, with a total investment of more than 710 billion yuan, and 4,180 buildings have sprung up, realizing the transformation from "a piece of land" to "a map" and building "a city", becoming a vivid footnote to Xiongan's anchoring of the future, high-starting-point planning, and high-standard construction of the "city of the future".

Optimize services for undertaking relocation units. Walking into the headquarters business district of the startup area, high-rise buildings such as the Sinochem Building and the Huaneng Headquarters Building have been topped off, refreshing the Xiongan skyline. Thanks to the efficient and high-quality undertaking services of the Xiongan New Area, a large number of relocation units have promoted project construction and industrial layout with high quality, and their central enterprises have established more than 200 institutions of various types in Xiongan.

In order to improve the quality of the relocation services, Xiong'an has set up a leading group for the relocation support work, established a comprehensive service center for the new district, and established a "comprehensive service center for the special working group of the command center and management committee" to undertake the relocation work mechanism. The new district has a clear team for each relocation project, a set of plans, and adheres to it to the end, providing high-quality registration, land supply, approval, and construction one-stop comprehensive services for the relocation units.

"One policy for each enterprise" is adopted for the whole-process service, "one window" is used for company establishment, "the whole process is handled online" for company relocation, "one meeting and three letters" are required for project approval... Relying on innovation in government services, the new district continuously optimizes services to ensure that relocated units can come, stay and develop well.

As the second batch of relocated units take over in an orderly manner, Xiongan will become a gathering place for central enterprise headquarters and universities. "The new district continues to improve the policy system of education, medical care, social security, housing, etc., to ensure that the overall business and living conditions of relocated personnel in Xiongan are not lower than those in Beijing, which gives them peace of mind," said Gao Lichun, director of the Public Service Bureau of Xiongan New District.

Policy support attracts technology-based private enterprises. Huazhu Technology Group Digital Technology Co., Ltd., the first company to settle in Xiongan Science and Technology Innovation Center, focuses on the field of smart cities. Using modern information technology, the company's smart parks, smart construction sites and other products have been applied to projects such as the smart office of the Xiongan Free Trade Zone Building and the smart construction site of the Xiongxin High-speed Railway. At present, the Xiongan Science Park where the Xiongan Science and Technology Innovation Center is located has introduced a total of 98 companies, most of which are technology-based private enterprises.

Xiongan has issued "Several Measures of Xiongan New Area in Hebei to Promote High-Quality Development of Private Investment", implemented 12 scientific and technological innovation support policies and a number of specific industry support policies such as aerospace information, software and information technology services, and Hongmeng technology, established scientific and technological innovation seed funds, industrial investment guidance funds, etc., to stimulate the innovation vitality of technology-based private enterprises.

With the opening of more than ten innovative industrial platforms and a number of theme buildings such as the Zhongguancun Science Park and the pilot base in Xiongan New Area, private technology-based enterprises from Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Yangtze River Delta have flocked to the park. Liu Jingjing, general manager of the Zhongguancun Science Park in Xiongan New Area, said that since its operation in August last year, the park has connected with more than 4,000 enterprises through the "Thousand Enterprises Xiongan Tour" activity, many of which are specialized "little giants", gazelle enterprises, and high-tech enterprises.

Multiple zones are superimposed to efficiently connect with the world. The superposition of policies such as national-level new areas, free trade pilot zones, comprehensive bonded areas, and cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones has opened the door for Xiongan New Area to open up at a high level, connect with the world with high quality, and develop an export-oriented economy.

At the beginning of this year, Xiongan Comprehensive Bonded Zone passed the acceptance. Relying on the policy advantages of "Xiongan New Area Free Trade Pilot Zone Comprehensive Bonded Zone Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zone", the new area actively builds "bonded" and other industrial systems. Cai Kejun, deputy director of the Management Committee of Xiongan Free Trade Pilot Zone, introduced that Xiongan Comprehensive Bonded Zone completed its first import and export business this year and developed steadily, and 25 companies have signed contracts to settle in. Cross-border e-commerce has developed rapidly, with annual import and export volume increasing from more than 23 million yuan in 2021 to 767 million yuan in 2023, and is expected to continue to maintain a strong development momentum this year.

We welcome guests from all over the world with open arms. Since 2023, more than 50 groups of dignitaries, ambassadors to China, and representatives of international organizations from more than 160 countries and regions have visited Xiongan for exchanges and promoted cooperation in project investment, talent exchange, and transformation of innovative achievements.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that we must widely use advanced science and technology, focus on strengthening the construction of scientific and technological innovation capabilities, increase the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, actively develop new business forms and new models, cultivate new growth points, form new momentum, and make intelligence, greenness, and innovation a bright business card for Xiongan New Area.

In order to implement the instructions of the General Secretary, Xiongan New Area emphasizes innovation-driven development and builds a "smart city" full of technology and innovation.

Digital twins, innovative smart city applications. On digital roads, driverless smart connected buses can brake automatically in emergency situations, and "smart roads" and "smart cars" can communicate with each other without barriers; front-end sensing equipment is installed in underground pipe corridors to achieve intelligent management... From residential facilities, schools and hospitals, underground pipe corridors, to gas and water use, public transportation, and ecological environment, innovative application scenarios such as smart education, smart transportation, and smart communities are everywhere in Xiong'an.

Xiong'an is building my country's first full-area digital twin city. Using the "city brain", the new district has formed a smart city construction standard framework covering three categories, nine aspects, and more than 200 standards.

Focusing on digital economic innovation, Xiong'an strives to build an innovative ecosystem including satellite Internet, Beidou, intelligent networking, next-generation network technology, Hongmeng, optoelectronics, etc. In order to build a full-area city Hongmeng system, Xiong'an City Hongmeng Innovation Laboratory was unveiled and established, and the city Hongmeng Building was put into use. Hongmeng technology will be piloted in the fields of smart parks and urban energy management.

Platform empowerment creates an important source of independent innovation. On May 12, 8 high-level innovation platforms including the Xiong'an Base of the National Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation of Civil Engineering of Tongji University were unveiled. These innovation platforms will promote the integration of multiple chains such as industrial chain, innovation chain, and talent chain, and help the new district build an innovation highland and a hotbed for entrepreneurship.

The Xiongan Science and Technology Innovation Center, which integrates functions such as technology research and development, results gathering, transformation and transaction, and intellectual property protection, actively connects with cooperative projects such as the National Engineering Laboratory for Additive Manufacturing of Large Metal Components of Beihang University, the National Key Laboratory of High-end Equipment Interfaces of Tsinghua University, and the National Key Laboratory of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and accelerates the construction of joint laboratories, research centers, and engineering technology centers with universities, research institutes, and high-tech enterprises.

Xiongan is actively introducing national innovation platforms such as large scientific facilities and national key laboratories to the new area. It focuses on promoting the construction of 17 national frontier innovation platforms such as the Xiongan Innovation Institute, the National Key Laboratory of Aerospace Flight Technology, the National Semiconductor Laser Technology Innovation Center, and the National Medical Center, accelerating the exploration of scientific and technological frontiers and the research of key core technologies, and creating an important source of independent innovation and original innovation.

Scenarios lead the way and build a new platform for innovative applications. Xiong'an uses application scenarios to gather future technologies and industries, and strives to be an explorer and pioneer in the application of innovative technologies and products. Since the end of last year, the new district has organized and implemented the Xiong'an Future City Scenario Collection and a series of scenario competitions, focusing on innovative scenario applications, building a platform that closely integrates science and technology, industry, and finance, and promoting the incubation, transformation, industrialization, and scenarioization of the latest technologies and products.

On May 27, the finals of the Xiong'an Future City Scenery Competition with the theme of "Gathering Future Technologies, Gathering Future Industries, and Building Future Scenes" officially kicked off. New technologies and products such as service robots, intelligent network charging, Beidou technology applications, and unmanned farms gathered in one city. Nearly 600 entries from 540 companies and scientific and technological innovation teams entered the finals. The participating teams brought solutions such as IPv6, near-zero carbon buildings, and underground space emergency, and the supply and demand sides were deeply connected.

Students of Xiongan Shijia Hutong Primary School are exercising on the playground. Photo by Mou Yu/Our magazine

In summer, Baiyangdian Lake has clear blue skies, boats sailing back and forth, and birds flying by, creating a beautiful picture of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. During the May Day holiday this year, Xiongan received more than 1.1 million tourists, and Baiyangdian Lake became a popular tourist destination.

In recent years, Hebei has implemented large-scale ecological restoration and management of Baiyangdian Lake, and the water quality in the lake area has been improved from Class V to Class III and has remained stable for three consecutive years. Through ecological water replenishment, the largest river with water in the Baiyangdian Lake basin is 1,393 kilometers long, and the water level in the lake area is maintained at around 7 meters. The function of the "Kidney of North China" has been restored faster, becoming a paradise for wildlife reproduction and survival. The number of wild birds and fish in the lake area has increased by 80 and 21 respectively compared with before the establishment of the new district.

By fully integrating green and low-carbon concepts into the three major spaces of production, life, and ecology, Xiongan New Area is building a high-quality "ecological city" with an interweaving of blue and green.

Continue to create "Millennium Beautiful Forest" and consolidate the green foundation. Xiong'an insists on planting green first and then building the city. Since the first tree was planted in the "Millennium Beautiful Forest" project in 2017, the new area has planted more than 478,000 mu of forest, and the forest coverage rate has increased from 11% before the establishment of the new area to 34.9%. The ecological effects of the Central Green Valley and the Eastern Valley are prominent, and the forest is surrounded by the city and the wetland is in the city, showing a charming ecological charm.

On weekends and holidays, many citizens and tourists come to Jinhu Park, Yuerong Park, and Suburban Park to enjoy a relaxing time. With 3 kilometers to the forest, 1 kilometer to the forest belt, and 300 meters to the park, the blueprint of Xiongan New Area's "parks everywhere" is becoming a reality.

Green buildings are promoted across the region, leading a new trend of low-carbon energy conservation. By using technologies such as building photovoltaic integration, ground-source heat pumps, and photovoltaic storage and direct flexible power generation, the Xiongan Free Trade Pilot Zone Exchange and Exhibition Center can basically achieve self-sufficiency in building electricity, with a renewable energy utilization rate of 100%. Such green and low-carbon buildings are everywhere in Xiongan New Area.

By the end of 2023, the proportion of medium- and high-star green buildings in Xiong'an's new buildings will reach 100%. Among them, new urban buildings will comply with the two-star or higher green building standards, and new government-invested and large public buildings will comply with the three-star green building standards. High-quality green buildings are concentrated in new areas such as Rongdong, Rongxi, and Xiongdong, and the prototype of a green, ecological and livable new urban area is beginning to take shape.

Reduce waste and consumption throughout the entire chain to create a "waste-free Xiong'an". In 2019, Xiong'an became one of the first national pilot cities for the construction of a "waste-free city". In accordance with the requirements of "reduction, harmlessness, and resource utilization", Xiong'an continues to improve the level of refined management of five types of waste, including domestic waste, construction waste, agricultural solid waste, industrial hazardous waste, and general industrial solid waste, and build a "low-carbon growth" city.

At present, the new district has gradually formed a green construction chain of "raw material zero waste factory-green building-construction waste recycling building materials yard". The recycling building materials yard in the Rongdong area has an annual processing capacity of 700,000 tons of construction waste, and the recycled materials can be used for mountain landscaping and engineering filling. Some villages have encouraged villagers to carry out actions such as shopping with baskets, garbage sorting, and item recycling to promote the reduction of solid waste at the source.

Photo by Mou Yu, Zhongguancun Science Park, Xiongan New Area/This magazine

At the pilot plant of Xiongan Science and Technology Innovation Center, staff from Beijing Prolon Technology Co., Ltd. are demonstrating the inspection robot. Photo by Mou Yu/Our magazine

5 minutes to kindergarten, 10 minutes to primary school, 15 minutes to middle school... The 41 newly opened schools in the newly built area of ​​Xiongan New Area all meet this walking time standard.

Different from other parts of the country that have built convenient living circles through urban renewal and integration of "golden corners and silver edges", the newly built areas of Xiongan New Area were planned according to the "15-minute living circle" standard from the beginning of their design, to meet the needs of every resident's children for schooling, shopping, medical treatment, fitness and entertainment.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that we must simultaneously advance the modernization of urban governance, put in the hard work from the very beginning, actively promote the equalization of basic public services, and build a "people's city" that is suitable for work and living in the new era.

Adhering to the principle of putting people first, Xiongan strives to meet people's life needs in education, medical care, elderly care, employment, entertainment and other aspects, and to enhance people's sense of gain, happiness and security through refined urban governance.

Resource integration supports a happy life. As an important wing of Beijing's new "two wings", Xiong'an actively integrates high-quality public service resources in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei to improve the level of public services.

Schools in Beijing and Tianjin cooperate with schools in Xiong'an, and high-quality basic education resources in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei are shared with Xiong'an. The newly built school campuses are equipped with weatherproof playgrounds, lecture halls, libraries, science classrooms and other facilities. Graduate students account for more than 80% of the teachers in junior and senior high schools. The "three schools and one hospital" built with assistance from Beijing are operating smoothly, and the Xiong'an Health Management Center of Peking University People's Hospital and the Healthy China Communication Building of Xiong'an New Area have been put into operation.

With the "Xiong'an One Card" social security card, residents of the new area can borrow books from libraries in Beijing and Xiong'an, and use the card to take buses and subways in Beijing, Tianjin and Xiong'an. With one card in hand, people can do business, withdraw money, see a doctor, take a bus and consume, which is convenient and worry-free.

"Xiong'an can handle Beijing's affairs, and Xiong'an's affairs can be handled by Beijing." 141 service items in Beijing and Xiong'an have been handled in the same city, and more than 3,500 government service items at the Beijing municipal and district levels can be handled "cross-regionally without discrimination" in Xiong'an through the "cloud" window.

Refined governance responds to the people's urgent needs. Community work is no small matter, and serving the people is a big deal. In the Honglian Zhongyuan community of Ding'an community in the Rongdong area, many young tenants sometimes eat and party in their rooms at one or two o'clock in the morning, and the noise late at night disturbs the neighbors. After receiving feedback from residents, Ding'an community workers visited and verified it as soon as possible, and coordinated with police officers and property management personnel to go to the homes of tenants to persuade them. After many mediations, the tenants said that they would pay attention to restraining their words and deeds, and the noise nuisance problem was solved.

As a large number of farmers move into urban areas, Xiong'an explores the construction of a "big property" management model led by party building, so that people can solve their urgent problems within the community. The community has established a joint meeting working mechanism to coordinate the efforts of multiple parties, improve the grid-based governance system, and resolve conflicts and disputes among the people in a timely manner.

In order to promote high-quality full employment, the new district employment service center and the community odd-job station recommend a variety of jobs to residents, and carry out skill training for live broadcast salesmen, pastry chefs, electricians, data labelers, etc., so that returning residents can master a skill and achieve stable employment.

The old places in the new city properly "place" the nostalgia. The old locust tree of Wen Zhanmin's family in Nanwenying Village, the ancestral hall of Yang Jisheng, and the old house of Jin Yupu have been properly protected and integrated with the new look of the city; old trees, old houses, and people's lives are recorded in the form of videos, photos, VR, etc., to build a "digital nostalgia" cultural platform; Haiyue Street, Jiuhe Street, Yanling Street and other place names with regional characteristics have become carriers of historical culture... Xiong'an strives to protect the emotional memory of the people, so that the new city has old places and the people can remember their nostalgia.

On May 10, Hebei Province held a symposium on promoting the high-quality construction, high-level management, and high-quality development of Xiongan New Area, emphasizing that we must persist in promoting the construction of Xiongan New Area with a strong sense of mission and ensure that the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech takes root and bears fruit in the new area. A "city of the future" carrying hope and dreams, a "model city" of high-quality development, is striding towards us.

Smart connected buses are driving on the road in the Rongdong area of ​​Xiongan New Area. Photo by Mou Yu/This magazine