TIANJIN Port Area of China (Tianjin) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Provided to China Daily

Initiated in 2014 by President Xi Jinping, the national strategy of synergizing the development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei stemmed from the goal of ensuring balanced and integrated joint development of the area.

Three years later, enviable progress has been made and more innovation-driven projects and industry upgrades are in the pipeline. This year, the region will witness a dozen integrated project sput in top lace outside Beijing, and part of the Beijing municipal government moving into an administrative sub-center on the outskirts of the city.

These projects include the new Beijing Daxing International Airport, the second phase of the Shougang Jingtang steel complex at Caofeidian, and several high-quality environmental protection and traffic projects.

The Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone and Beijing Zhongguancun Science Park also will play a more proactive role, encouraging cross-border investment and financing, equity transactions and entrepreneurship within the region by unifying rules and regulations, according to Xu.

Taking advantage of the free trade zone and port facilities, Tianjin is coming up with innovative ways to help enterprises from Beijing and Hebei go overseas, says Shen Lei, an official at the Tianjin Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone.

As part of the capital's regional integration strategy, Beijing is tasked with aiding Tianjin and Hebei in upgrading their manufacturing capacity and enhancing their innovation capabilities.

"Thanks to abundant talent and research and development advantages, Beijing will fuel joint development of the whole region. We encourage companies to invest in Hebei and Tianjin, generating jobs and benefiting local residents," Beijing Mayor Cai Qi said.

In 2016, Beijing's investment in Tianjin and Hebei skyrocketed. Enterprises from Beijing invested 114 billion yuan ($16.6 billion; 15.6 billion euros; ��13.4 billion) in Hebei and almost 90 billion yuan in Tianjin, up 100 and 26 percent year-on-year respectively. High-tech-oriented investment from Beijing to Hebei and Tianjin hit 15.4 billion yuan in 2016, up 38.7 percent year-on-year.

The Cangzhou Hyundai plant in Hebei province, the fourth factory of Beijing Hyundai Motor and its first outside Beijing, is the largest integrated industrial project in the region, with a total investment of 7.4 billion yuan.

The factory opened in October, directly creating more than 3,000 local jobs. Lang Jiawei, deputy general manager of Beijing Hyundai, says the Cangzhou plant will spur a huge auto industrial chain valued at 100 billion yuan in Hebei.

As it helps neighboring regions, Beijing is also fine-tuning its economic structure and seeking transformation from a manufacturing powerhouse to a hub for more high-end cultural, financial and service industries, according to Wang Haichen, an official at the Beijing Development and Reform Commission.

Wang says the integration strategy is a wise move to seek balanced improvement in the business environment of different regions, and as a result to attract more foreign direct investment.

Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, agrees. "With the improved business environment and mechanism, the three regions as a whole will attract more resources," Zhou says.

Newly released statistics show that the aggregate GDP of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei accounted for more than 10 percent of the country's total in 2016, reaching 7.46 trillion yuan.

China is seeking more coordinated and balanced growth, and many regional stimulus strategies have been unveiled in recent years.

Contact the writers at wangyu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 02/24/2017 page14)