Province steps out from the shadows of its neighbors

As a large province neighbored by two major metropolises, Hebei was once overshadowed by Beijing and Tianjin's economic and social development. But times have changed, and the province is catching up at a rapid pace.

Covering almost 190,000 square kilometers, roughly 12 times the size of Beijing, Hebei has played a greater role since 2014, when a national development strategy - the integrated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region - was launched to tackle unbalanced development.

A key task for the province was to take over "noncapital city" functions from Beijing and become the base for industries, enterprise headquarters, institutions, logistic companies and markets.

The task turned out to be a great development opportunity for Hebei.

From 2014 to 2018, more than 1.8 trillion yuan ($256.6 billion) of capital flowed from Beijing and Tianjin to Hebei, accounting for more than half the province's total introduced capital, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Last year, 2,516 projects and more than 1,400 high-tech Beijing and Tianjin enterprises resettled in Hebei, said Wang Dongfeng, secretary of the Communist Party of China Hebei Provincial Committee.

The strategy was accelerated after building of the Xiongan New Area began in 2017.

Located 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing, the new area was earmarked as a hub for Beijing's noncapital functions and a new economic engine driven by innovation.

Xiongan also helped place Hebei on the map as a new area of "national significance" after the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and Shanghai's Pudong New Area.

It is "a strategy that will have lasting importance for the millennium to come, and a significant national event", the Xiongan planning outline said.

The new area is mainly located in three underdeveloped counties in Baoding.

The building of more than 20 projects is underway, including a railway station, flood and pollution control projects and waste treatment facilities, according to the area's official WeChat account.

Like many others from around the country, Mou Zhenguo, 38, from Beijing has worked in Xiongan for over six months, employed as a senior manager at CRCC Xiongan Construction, a State-owned construction company and one of the earliest companies registered in the area.

Next year, getting to work from his Beijing home will be much easier.

An intercity railway line is being built to connect Xiongan with the capital. When put into operation at the end of next year, it will take only 35 minutes to commute between the two cities.

Currently, it takes Mou two hours to drive from his home in Beijing's Xicheng district to his workplace at Xiongxian county, Xiongan. He only goes home at weekends.

"It will be more convenient for people who live in Beijing and work in Xiongan; even faster than some commutes inside Beijing," Mou said, adding that he will be able to go home every day.

"There's no way I'd come from the capital to work in Hebei if not for Xiongan, which has a great future," Mou said.