Xiong’an New Area, a flagship development launched in 2017 to absorb non-capital functions from Beijing and knit together the Beijing‑Tianjin‑Hebei region, has entered a new phase of build‑out and operations, according to recent dispatches from Chinese state media.
Why It Matters
State media place the developed area at roughly 215 square kilometers, around 83 square miles, with more than 5,300 buildings now shaping the skyline and about 1.41 million residents—as officials tout the city moving from blueprint to reality.
What To Know
Geographically, Xiong’an sits about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of Beijing in Baoding, spanning the counties of Xiongxian, Anxin and Rongcheng, a location Chinese media describes as offering strong transport links and environmental capacity for expansion.
During the 2021-25 period, three centrally administered state‑owned enterprises—China Satellite Network Group, China Huaneng Group and Sinochem Group—relocated their headquarters to Xiong’an and began full operations, according to China Daily, while four Beijing universities have broken ground on new Xiong’an campuses, and two hospitals are building branch facilities in the area.
It also reported that over 4,000 Beijing‑based companies have established a presence in Xiong’an, with a second wave of relocations underway.
China Daily says that preparatory work included 19 specific plans and 24 specialized studies on areas from Baiyangdian Lake ecological restoration to transportation and urbanization, culminating in the April 2018 master plan that set development goals through 2035 and sketched a vision to the mid‑21st century.
Chinese media highlight that by 2023 the journey from Beijing to Xiong’an could be made by high‑speed rail in under one hour, and on February 1, workers laid the first steel tracks for the Xiong’an-Xinzhou High‑Speed Railway.
What People Are Saying
Liu Zhenming, deputy director of the Xiong’an natural resources and planning bureau, said, according to China Daily: “Our efforts are aimed at maximizing the value of every inch of land through scientific planning and strict management. This will ensure that urban development withstands the test of history and time, allowing the public to share in the benefits of planning and development.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping said, as per the outlet: “Within only six years, Xiong’an has started from scratch and developed from a blueprint to reality. A high-level modern city is sprouting up, which is undoubtedly a miracle.”
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