At a recent webinar on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, scholars exchanged ideas on the region’s development goals and corresponding policies during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025). The webinar was hosted by Peking University.

The Outline Plan of BeijingTianjin-Hebei Integrated Development, released in 2015, positioned the region as a worldclass city cluster with Beijing as its core to lead the coordinated development and reform, while serving as a new engine for the innovation-driven economy and a demonstration zone for ecological conservation in China.

Li Guoping, director of Beijing Development Institute at Peking University, said that in the 14th Five-Year Plan period, we need to further consider how to phase out Beijing’s non-capital functions and how to create a new spatial pattern centered around the city of Beijing, while strengthening coordination between Beijing and Tianjin as the two wings. Li also suggested modernizing the business division structure.

According to Lu Dadao, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, during the 14th FiveYear Plan period, the two cities of Beijing and Tianjin together with Hebei Province can better integrate social security. In addition, they must strengthen economic exchanges and innovation and make ecological progress, thus realizing their coordinated development.

Concerning the development of the manufacturing industry in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, Wu Yiqing, vice president of Hebei University of Economics and Business, said that the per capita income of these three places has gradually increased in recent years, but asset turnover and asset efficiency have gradually declined, and overall efficiency has not changed much.

The primary objective of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is to build a world-class urban agglomeration centered around the capital city. This requires the support of a world-class manufacturing industrial chain, Wu continued. As such, accelerating the high-quality development of manufacturing should be regarded as a major undertaking for Beijing-TianjinHebei coordinated development.

To this end, Wu suggested formulating a special plan for the development of the advanced manufacturing industrial chain, and building a world-class industrial chain and industry cluster through elaborate planning. Mechanism innovation should be valued, and the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei should start with improving total factor productivity. During the 14th FiveYear Plan period, it is necessary to focus on optimizing resource allocation and promoting technological innovation. Moreover, it is crucial to address such problems as asset inefficiency and water shortage by streamlining administration, delegating power and strengthening regulation.

Regarding the construction of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, Liu Binglian, dean of the College of Economic and Social Development at Nankai University, suggested that economic development should be accelerated and potential economic growth poles should be cultivated to increase the total economic output of the worldclass urban agglomeration. Industrial upgrading needs to be accelerated, and a regional industrial coordination mechanism needs to be built. The region also needs a regional innovation system, an innovative value chain and a technology trading market.

Liu also suggested optimizing industrial coordination and the division of labor along with spatial layouts, while continuing to facilitate market integration in the region. It is also important to strengthen the coordinated governance of the region and explore a benefit-sharing mechanism.

Transportation integration is an important prerequisite for the integration of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, noted Zhao Pengjun, a professor from the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University. In light of the current reform of the national spatial planning system, Zhao suggested coordinating the spatial layout of the transportation industry and establishing a modern transportation system in the region that adapts to population growth.

In addition, it is necessary to optimize the connection between the central cities and other cities, and to build a comprehensive transportation network with internal and external connections through aviation, high-speed rail and intercity express rail, Zhao continued. Moreover, it is important to strengthen the construction of comprehensive transportation hubs and classify the hubs. The coordination and linkage between Beijing as an international hub and other hubs needs to be strengthened, and the hubs at different levels need to be made more compatible with urban functions. It is also crucial to innovate with integrated transportation services and coordinated management mechanisms.