"The Tale of Two Cities in Beijing and Tianjin" Sings a New Melody in Urban Agglomeration | Beijing | Beijing and Tianjin

On August 1, 2023, the Beijing Tianjin intercity train departed from Beijing South Station. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Chenlin

Tianjin, August 1st, Xinhua News Agency - The "Twin Cities" in Beijing and Tianjin Sing a New Melody

Xinhua News Agency reporters Wang Jianhua, Li Kun, and Kong Xiangxin

On August 1st, China's first high-speed railway with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the Beijing Tianjin Intercity Railway, celebrated its 15th birthday. The long-standing "Twin Cities" between Beijing and Tianjin are also singing a new melody.

In the mid-19th century, Tianjin, located over 100 kilometers southeast of Beijing, was opened up as a trading port and gradually grew into an important industrial, financial, and commercial center. Since then, the "Twin Cities" of Beijing and Tianjin have gradually become known to the world.

In 2013, "composing the 'Twin Cities' of Beijing and Tianjin for socialist modernization in the new era" became a new direction for the development of these two cities. In 2023, with the latest mission of radiating and leading the construction of world-class urban clusters in the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region, Beijing and Tianjin have identified their positioning and performed a "double dance" in the national strategy.

On February 20, 2023, an autonomous vehicle parked in front of the Beijing Tianjin Zhongguancun Science and Technology City Collaborative Development Center. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fanyue

New Space

In the scorching summer of Baodi, Tianjin, the Zhongguancun Science and Technology City in Beijing and Tianjin is bustling with tower cranes and construction.

Just as the opening of the "Beijing Tianjin Intercity" has made the "dual city life" of Beijing and Tianjin a reality, with the opening of the Baodi Station and Baodi South Station of the Beijing Tang and Jingbin Intercity Railway on December 30, 2022, the bond between the Science and Technology City and Beijing has become even closer.

"As the first heavy asset project of Zhongguancun Development Group outside Beijing, Beijing's' physical space 'extends here," said Wang Hao, Deputy District Mayor of Baodi District and Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Zhongguancun Science and Technology City in Beijing and Tianjin.

Since entering the substantive construction phase in 2017, the Beijing Tianjin Zhongguancun Science and Technology City has been committed to creating a "Zhongguancun like" ecosystem.

"We have enjoyed the same policy environment as Zhongguancun in Beijing at a lower cost here," said Xu Mengjian, Deputy General Manager of Boyu Semiconductor Materials Co., Ltd., which started production at the Science and Technology City Construction Plant in 2020.

In Beitang, Tianjin, the Tianjin Binhai Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park has attracted over 4000 registered enterprises since its listing in November 2016.

"After the headquarters moved from Beijing to Tianjin, the company's revenue continued to rise, exceeding 15 million yuan last year," said Hu Jianlong, Chairman of Kexin Ecological Agriculture Technology Co., Ltd.

Relying on the vast R&D and manufacturing space in Tianjin, Kexin Company, which focuses on agricultural artificial intelligence, has expanded its market to Hebei, Shanxi and other places.

Xing Qidong, Deputy Director of the Office of Tianjin Binhai Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park, stated that it is foreseeable that more and more institutions and projects will find new paths for spatial expansion in the "Twin Cities" of Beijing and Tianjin.

On June 16, 2023, the main waterway of Tianjin Port was captured from a helicopter. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fanyue

New advantages

Beijing Wenute Technology Co., Ltd., which is deeply involved in the field of industrial control system information security, came to Tianjin in 2017 to expand its new path. The main reason for choosing Tianjin is that the two cities are conveniently connected, and developers in Tianjin can meet and communicate with the innovation team in Beijing at any time.

"We have been cooperating with multiple enterprises in Tianjin before coming here, and many factories and workshops are potential customers," said Wang Fangli, R&D Director of Tianjin Wenute Information Technology Co., Ltd.

The combination of Beijing's technological innovation advantages and Tianjin's advanced manufacturing and research and development advantages is a new requirement of the central government for Beijing Tianjin cooperation. In the coordinated development strategy of the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region, Tianjin is positioned as a "national advanced manufacturing research and development base", and is developing in a staggered manner with Beijing to undertake non capital functions.

At the C section dock of the North Xinjiang Port Area of Tianjin Port, sea breeze swept by and the nearly 100 meter long wind turbine blades slowly rotated. The "integrated wind, solar, and energy storage" system enabled 100% independent supply of green electricity here. The green port and shipping ecosystem jointly built by Beijing Tianjin enterprises has shown initial effectiveness.

"Our company in Beijing is responsible for technological innovation, while our company in Tianjin is responsible for the manufacturing and sales of port fans." Jin Zhenwei, General Manager of Tianjin Yuanhai Jinfeng New Energy Co., Ltd., said that the joint efforts of Beijing and Tianjin, with a broad market, have also provided a wider range of application scenarios for zero carbonization production.

Data shows that with the joint efforts of the two regions, Tianjin has introduced over 7000 investment projects from Beijing enterprises in the past 9 years, with a total of over 1.2 trillion yuan in funds.

On June 22, 2023, workers from China Railway 12th Bureau worked at the construction site of the Tianjin Beijing Daxing International Airport railway. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xing Guangli

New leadership

SMC, a Japanese industrial automation supporting company, entered the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone in 1994, becoming the first foreign-owned enterprise in the zone. In recent years, it has increasingly experienced the advantages of expanding its business in the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region.

In 2021, SMC will expand its manufacturing base from Beijing to Tianjin, leading to the rapid development of new products for lithium battery and photovoltaic automation production. The output value of the Tianjin factory is expected to reach 1.3 billion yuan this year.

"Under the leadership of our Tianjin factory, our supporting facilities have been extended to Cangzhou, Baoding, Tangshan and other places in Hebei, achieving a supporting rate of 50% in China, greatly reducing costs," said Ma Qinghai, General Manager of SMC Investment Management Co., Ltd.

Beijing and Tianjin are forming a leading role through industrial interaction, and Hebei is also opening up economic corridors connecting Beijing and Tianjin from multiple directions, in order to jointly build world-class industrial chain clusters. As of the end of 2022, Hebei has undertaken a total of 44000 enterprises and units transferred from Beijing to Tianjin, and a large number of manufacturing projects in the automotive, pharmaceutical, and new materials industries have settled in the local area.

Song Zuan, General Manager of Procurement and Supplier Management at Beijing Benz, stated that currently, Beijing Benz has expanded its layout to 126 suppliers in the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region, accounting for about 30% of the overall output value, and about 50% of its total output value also comes from the region.

The relevant person in charge of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission stated that in the next step, they will continue to deepen the integration of industrial policies with Tianjin, especially the cooperation in high-precision and cutting-edge industries, strengthen the construction of the Beijing Tianjin Hebei Collaborative Innovation Community, and improve the efficiency of regional transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

A Beijing Tianjin intercity train runs through the urban area of Tianjin. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Chenlin

New contributions

Starting from July 1st, China Railway will implement a new train schedule, with an increase of 31000 high-speed rail seats per day for the Beijing Tianjin intercity railway. Recently, the main railway line from Tianjin to Beijing Daxing International Airport has been completed and is planned to open for operation within the year. At that time, there will be four high-speed railways connecting Beijing and Tianjin.

"Looking at the world, it is rare for two mega cities that are so geographically close to each other to cooperate and work closely together," said Wang Kai, President of the China Urban Planning and Design Research Institute.

He stated that the groundbreaking significance of using high-quality resources from the "Twin Cities" initiative in Beijing and Tianjin to fill regional gaps and drive the construction of world-class urban clusters in the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region is self-evident.

Exploring a large number of mature reform policies here also leads to regional and national expansion. For example, on July 1, 2014, the regional customs integration of Beijing Tianjin Hebei Customs was first launched in Beijing Customs and Tianjin Customs. On September 22 of that year, Shijiazhuang Customs joined, and on July 1, 2017, the national customs officially implemented customs integration.

In 2022, the total economic output of the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region exceeded 10 trillion yuan, and the driving force for high-quality development in the country became even stronger.

"The coordinated development strategy of Beijing Tianjin Hebei bears the important mission of narrowing the gap between the north and south of China." Liu Bingsickle, Dean of the Beijing Tianjin Hebei Collaborative Development Research Institute at Nankai University, said that by solving the problem through collaboration, the "Twin Cities" of Beijing Tianjin will contribute Chinese wisdom to the construction of the "Dual Core" urban agglomeration worldwide.