At the Baiyangdian tourist pier in Xiongan New Area, a cruise ship is docked on the shore.

Photography report by Shi Ziqiang and Zhou Bo

Exit of the expressway in Xiongan New Area.

Photographed by Sun Lijun (Image China)

Xiongan New Area started from a "blank sheet of paper" and is now 6 years old.

What does this "future city" that makes people "yearn for" look like?

"Look! That's my new home." Zhai Zong, a new citizen of Xiongan New Area, pointed to the residential area composed of hundreds of buildings and said proudly, "It takes 5 minutes to walk from the community to the kindergarten, 10 minutes to the primary school, 15 minutes to the middle school, and 300 meters to the park. This is a city for the people."

"World vision, international standards, Chinese characteristics, and high-point positioning." Under the personal decision-making, deployment and promotion of General Secretary Xi Jinping, a new era of Xiongan is slowly unfolding on the North China Plain: "I have never seen a city plan compiled like this." "I have never seen a new city pay so much attention to the inheritance of excellent traditional culture." "I have never seen the integrated planning and construction of the "three cities" above ground, underground and in the "cloud." "I have never seen such a large-scale governance of Baiyangdian." "I have never seen a new city built to take over Beijing's non-capital functions." Xiongan New Area, a future city carrying a thousand-year plan and national affairs, is attracting more and more attention from the world. "I have never seen a city plan compiled like this" General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the planning and construction of Xiongan New Area. Whether it is the concept to be upheld in the planning compilation or the key stages of the planning compilation process, he personally planned and guided, and timely checked and oriented each major issue, providing a fundamental guideline and pointing out the direction of work for the high-starting point planning and high-standard construction of Xiongan New Area.

¡°Using the ¡°millennium plan¡± to position the construction of a new city is unprecedented in the history of Chinese cities and even in the history of world cities.¡± Duan Jin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at the School of Architecture of Southeast University, said, ¡°The millennium plan starts with planning. To build Xiongan New Area with high standards and high quality, we must first compile the new area plan with high standards and high quality, so as to achieve a world vision, international standards, Chinese characteristics and high-point positioning.¡±

Planning comes before action. From the preparation of the overall plan to the start of construction, and then to the initial shape now, planning has played a vital role. Xiongan New Area has maintained historical patience and strategic determination, insisted on steady and steady progress, and always promoted the planning preparation with high intensity, high density and high quality in the spirit of creating history and pursuing art, so as to ¡°plan every inch of land clearly before starting construction, leaving no historical regrets¡±.

¡°Xiongan New Area is our historical heritage left to future generations. We must insist on planning, designing and construction with the most advanced concepts and world-class standards, and it must stand the test of history.¡± Yin Huiliang, executive vice president of the Xiongan Institute of the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, said.

The planning of Xiongan New Area is the most concerned, involving the most institutions, covering the widest fields and gathering the most talents in China since the founding of the People's Republic of China. More than 60 academicians, more than 3,500 experts and technicians participated in the planning of the new area; in the development of the area and important single buildings, with the support of advanced scientific and technological means, advanced concepts such as intelligent management, digital city, green and low-carbon were integrated to strive to create a meticulous and rigorous urban planning design. "I have never seen a city plan compiled like this." Many experts who participated in the planning of Xiongan New Area sighed.

"I have never seen a new city attach so much importance to the inheritance of excellent traditional culture"

For a new city to stand firm, the key is to inherit the historical context and pay attention to the protection of historical relics and historical features.

At the beginning of the establishment of Xiongan New Area, on May 28, 2017, the Cultural Relics Bureau of Hebei Province held a site promotion meeting for the protection of cultural relics and archaeology in Xiongan New Area at the Nanyang Site in Rongcheng County. The unveiling of the Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology Work Station in Xiongan New Area, Hebei Province, marks the full launch of cultural relics protection and archaeology work in Xiongan New Area, Hebei Province.

"Adhere to the protection and promotion of China's excellent traditional culture and continue the historical context", the cultural relics department of Hebei Province implements the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, with the goal of serving the overall economic construction of Xiongan and interpreting the millennium history and culture of Xiongan, and comprehensively promotes the cultural relics protection and archaeology work in Xiongan New Area, Hebei Province.

In recent years, the cultural relics department has successively carried out archaeological surveys and surveys in Xiongan New Area, Rongcheng Nanyang Site, Xiongxian Luzhou City Site, Guzhou City Site, Xiongan Environmental Archaeology, Baiyangdian and Yannan Great Wall Survey and many other tasks. A total of 28 archaeological surveys, explorations and excavations were carried out, with an exploration area of 3.45 million square meters and an excavation area of 10,555 square meters. 277 ancient tombs of various periods were cleared and 809 cultural relics were unearthed. Fruitful results have been achieved in urban archaeology in Hebei, prehistoric archaeology in Baobei area, environmental archaeology in Baiyangdian area, and historical and cultural research on the Song-Liao border.

The Nanyang Site in Nanyang Village, Rongcheng County, is the largest key cultural relic protection unit in China in Xiongan New Area. Shortly after the establishment of Xiongan New Area, a high-level joint archaeological team organized by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage arrived here.

With awe for historical relics, the archaeological team conducted an archaeological survey of more than 40 square kilometers and discovered the "Greater Nanyang" site settlement group with the Nanyang Site and Liangmatai Site as the core. The cultural relics date from the late Neolithic Age to the Song and Jin Dynasties, and the cultural development lasted for nearly 3,000 years.

A series of important archaeological discoveries have constructed the spatial and temporal framework of Xiongan's millennium history and culture, made important contributions to the research, protection and inheritance of Xiongan New Area's cultural heritage, and created a win-win situation for the planning and construction of the new area and the inheritance of historical and cultural heritage. Zheng Zhanfeng, technical consultant of China Xiongan Group Ecological Construction Investment Co., Ltd., said: "I have never seen a new city attach so much importance to the inheritance of excellent traditional culture."

The Xiongan New Area attaches great importance to the protection of historical and cultural heritage and has made useful explorations to improve the "pre-archaeological land acquisition and storage" system. Since 2021, archaeological exploration and excavation work has been carried out in the starting area. 35 archaeological exploration projects such as the Bailong site have been completed, with an exploration area of 1.007 million square meters; 13 archaeological excavations such as the Wufang site have been started, and more than 1,500 sets of relics such as pottery and bronze have been unearthed.

Avoid the sameness of thousands of cities and set an example for solving the "big city disease". "In the planning and construction of the new district, we adhere to the urban construction concept of "culture casts the soul of the city". The spatial layout has changed the previous single-center "spreading out" development model and implemented group development. The groups are relatively concentrated and distinctive, but also closely connected and complementary in function, so that production, life, education, medical care, etc. are organically connected, and entrepreneurship, employment and residential functions are balanced." Wang Zhigang, director of the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of Xiongan New Area, introduced.

The Yuerong Park, which covers an area of about 160 hectares, was designed by China's top garden experts, and every beam and column was carefully selected. Walking into the park gate, from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the Han and Tang Dynasties, the scenery of architectural civilizations from different periods is gathered, as if unfolding a historical picture scroll of Chinese civilization.

"I have never seen the integrated planning and construction of the "three cities" on the ground, underground, and "in the cloud" before"

The Xiongan New Area has built supporting infrastructure with high standards, and the "Xiongan quality" runs through all areas and the entire process of construction. The key projects that are carefully built will become iconic after completion. "I have never seen the integrated planning and construction of the "three cities" on the ground, underground, and "in the cloud" before." Cui Wenfei, deputy director of the office of the Xiongan New Area Construction Command, said.

Open up regional transportation arteries. Rail transit will become an important mode of transportation connection between the new area's clusters and an important part of the new area's public transportation and green transportation. Asia's largest Xiongan high-speed railway station will be completed and put into use at the end of 2020. Starting from Beijing West Railway Station, the high-speed rail will reach Xiongan Station in one hour. It is reported that the Beijing-Xiongan, Rongwu new lines, Beijing-Dezhou first phase expressway, Yirong line and Anda line have been completed and put into use, and more than 500 kilometers of regional traffic arteries have been opened.

Focus on the construction of underground pipelines. Adhering to the synchronous planning of the ground and underground, and constructing underground first and then above ground, Xiong'an New Area first built an underground comprehensive pipeline corridor, promoting the construction of urban infrastructure such as water, electricity, heating and gas in an integrated manner, and sharing a unified underground space. The underground comprehensive pipeline corridor in Rongdong District has a total length of 14.8 kilometers and will be completed and put into use in July 2021. The pipeline corridor is divided into two layers, including gas cabins and comprehensive water cabins. The cabin is equipped with temperature and humidity sensors, combustible gas detectors, etc., equipped with couplers, etc., and 1,071 cameras are also deployed along the line for 24-hour monitoring. The "Xiongan Plan" for the underground comprehensive pipeline corridor is the first to centrally plan and construct municipal infrastructure such as comprehensive pipeline corridors and underground pipelines, and make efficient use of underground space. According to calculations, this move saves 7% of construction land area and reduces investment by 12%; saves more than 20% of space in the corridor and saves 18% of investment. "Xiongan New Area is the first in China to build an IoT perception network system covering all pipe corridors, and management is more intelligent and efficient." said Zhang Yaodong, Party Secretary and Chairman of Xiongan Group Infrastructure Co., Ltd.

Build a leading digital city. From smart street lights and smart manhole covers to smart construction sites and smart transportation... Xiongan New Area is full of its innate "smart genes". On Wenying West Road in Rongdong District, lamp poles are equipped with "weapons" such as cameras and laser radar RSU (roadside units). Li Jianyong, a staff member of China Telecom Digital City Technology Co., Ltd., introduced: "It is a multifunctional smart lamp pole, which is laid out on the main and secondary roads of Rongdong for a total of 153 kilometers. In terms of unmanned driving scenarios, the lamp pole equipment collects road surface information and sends it to the vehicle system to achieve vehicle-road collaboration." At present, Xiongan New Area has built a basic framework for a smart city with "one center and four platforms" as the core, and physical buildings and virtual data have grown together. At the end of 2022, the Xiongan City Computing Center was officially put into operation, and the Xiongan New Area "City Brain" began to operate, providing network, computing and storage services for the big data, blockchain, Internet of Things, etc. of "Digital Xiongan", and providing important support for building "Cloud Xiongan". In addition, Xiongan New Area is the first city in China to be fully laid out according to intelligent transportation. There are about 200,000 sensors per square kilometer, and the 5G Internet connection makes the entire city "sharp-eyed and sharp-eared".

"I have never seen such a strong governance of Baiyangdian"

The golden reeds swayed in the wind, and the trees not far away sprouted green buds... In early spring, Baiyangdian is full of blue waves and vitality.

"The water is clearer, and the environment is getting more and more beautiful!" Walking on the wooden plank road beside the lake, Tian Genshuang, a villager from Dongdiantou Village, Anxin County, Xiong'an New Area, couldn't help but sigh, "I've never seen such a big effort to govern Baiyangdian!"

"Don't let a drop of sewage flow into Baiyangdian!" Since the establishment of Xiong'an New Area, Baiyangdian has ushered in the largest-scale systematic ecological governance in history. Hebei Province is "one chess game", with linkage from top to bottom, and the ecological restoration project of Baiyangdian is implemented with high standards and strict requirements. In 2021, the water quality of Baiyangdian will be comprehensively improved from Class V in 2017 to Class III, entering the ranks of China's good lakes. The metabolic function of the "Kidney of North China" is recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Baiyangdian is located in the "lower end of the nine rivers" of the Daqing River Basin. Holding the "entry gate" of upstream water is the key to improving water quality. 94% of the upper reaches of Baiyangdian are in Baoding, and the entire Baoding City belongs to the upper reaches of Baiyangdian. Since 2017, Baoding City has continuously carried out river and lake cleaning operations, removing more than 11 million cubic meters of various types of river garbage and blocking 2,024 sewage outlets into the river; through scientific dispatch of reservoir water, actively coordinating the South-to-North Water Diversion Project and other ecological water replenishment for Baiyangdian.

Adhere to systematic governance and coordinated governance to promote comprehensive governance of the entire river basin, upstream and downstream, left and right banks, and inside and outside the lake. Hebei Province has coordinated the implementation of 66 governance projects in nine categories, including industrial, urban, agricultural and rural areas, endogenous pollution control in the lake area, ecological restoration, river channel regulation, and ecological water replenishment, and has taken the strongest measures to promote the leapfrog improvement of Baiyangdian's water quality. In April 2021, the "Regulations on the Governance and Protection of the Baiyangdian Ecological Environment" was implemented, making systematic and comprehensive regulations on Baiyangdian and its basin.

Xiong County, the largest plastic packaging and printing base in the north with an annual output value of more than 10 billion yuan, has completely shut down and abolished heavily polluting enterprises involving waste plastics and printing. Gaoyang County, Baoding City, adjacent to Xiongan New Area, is a famous textile town in China, with three seasonal rivers flowing into Baiyangdian. In order to solve the problem of printing and dyeing wastewater pollution, the county's sewage treatment plant has been continuously expanded and upgraded in recent years, and has now become the largest county-level sewage treatment plant in Hebei Province.

From the past "scarce water, poor water" to the current "water, good water", Baiyangdian's ecological environment governance and water quality have undergone historic changes, and the function of the "kidney of North China" has been restored faster. "We need to save water in addition to having water and good water. We must continuously enhance the awareness of water conservation in the whole society and strive to build a model city for water conservation." Wu Haimei, deputy director of the Ecological Environment Bureau of Xiongan New Area, said.

The "Implementation Plan for Xiongan New Area on Promoting Water Conservation from a High Starting Point" issued last year proposed 26 water-saving indicators in four aspects, including comprehensive indicators, industry indicators, management indicators, and public water-saving awareness and satisfaction. It deployed 23 work tasks in six aspects, including the implementation of water-saving management system, innovation of water-saving incentive and constraint mechanism, water-saving infrastructure construction, urban water-saving and loss reduction, industrial water-saving and emission reduction, and agricultural water-saving and efficiency improvement, and made clear provisions for strengthening organizational guarantees, institutional guarantees and financial guarantees.

The Xiongan New Area shoulders the historical mission of building a model city of ecological civilization in the new era, and the residents' awareness of ecological protection is also constantly improving. For example, the Xiongan New Area adopts the "government + civil association + volunteer" management model to mobilize the whole society to love and protect birds. In some villages in Dianzhong, the former bird hunters destroyed the bird nets at home and turned into folk bird protection volunteers.

"In the past, people picked up bird eggs, used nets to catch fish, and used electric fishing in Baiyangdian, but now there are basically no such people." Han Zhanqiao, a teacher at Tongkou Primary School in Anxin County and a volunteer bird protector, was deeply touched. He also composed a song "I am a Bird in Xiong'an" to express his joy at the restoration of the beautiful scenery of "red lotus, green reeds, and hundreds of birds flying together" in Baiyangdian.

According to statistics, as of now, there are 252 species of wild birds in Baiyangdian, an increase of 46 species compared with before the establishment of Xiong'an New Area. Monitoring by the Hebei Academy of Marine and Fisheries Sciences found that the number of fish species in Baiyangdian has now recovered to 46, and indigenous fish such as minnows, medaka, and silverfish have reappeared in Baiyangdian, an increase of 19 species compared with before the establishment of Xiong'an New Area. The biodiversity of fish in Baiyangdian has reached a high level.

Planting green first and then building a city, Xiong'an New Area took the lead in launching ecological infrastructure construction and environmental remediation before large-scale urban construction began.

The Millennium Plan starts with the Millennium Beautiful Forest. With full respect for nature, compliance with nature, and protection of nature, Xiongan New Area aims to build a Chinese Forest City Demonstration Area, and has carried out large-scale afforestation and land greening to lay a good ecological foundation for the planning and construction of the new area. At the same time, most of the seedlings are native tree species suitable for the local environment, respecting the nature of plants in order to better take root. Trees of different ages, heights and heights, and then mixing different species together, let the artificial forest evolve into a natural forest faster. "Beautiful forest, green valley, and lake bay" constitute the ecological space skeleton of the Xiongan New Area startup area. "It is connected to the northern forest belt in the north and the lake bay area in the south. It will soon become a large park with blue and green interweaving." Zheng Zhanfeng introduced.

300 meters into the park, 1 kilometer into the forest belt, and 3 kilometers into the forest. In recent years, Xiongan New Area has accumulated more than 470,000 mu of forest, forming an ecological space pattern of "one lake, three belts, nine pieces, and multiple corridors". At the same time, a number of high-quality parks such as "Millennium Beautiful Forest", Yuerong Park, and Jinhu Park have become the green landscape of the new district. An ecological picture of blue and green interweaving, fresh and bright, and water and city integration is unfolding.

"I have never seen a new city built to undertake Beijing's non-capital functions"

The original intention of establishing Xiongan New Area is to create a concentrated carrier of Beijing's non-capital functions.

On February 23, 2017, General Secretary Xi Jinping conducted a field inspection in Anxin County and presided over a symposium on the planning and construction of Xiongan New Area in Hebei, pointing out that the planning and construction of Xiongan New Area is a strategic choice of great historical significance, and a historic project to relieve Beijing's non-capital functions and promote the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

"The focus and starting point is to perform a surgical operation to relieve Beijing's non-capital functions and solve the problem of "big city disease." General Secretary Xi Jinping has laid out a grand plan for the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

From planning the coordinated development strategy of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, to proposing to select a concentrated carrier for the relocation of Beijing's non-capital functions, to deploying the construction of Xiongan New Area, General Secretary Xi Jinping has focused on the overall situation, made strategic plans, and taken the pulse and oriented.

In the past six years, Xiongan New Area has gradually unfolded a beautiful picture of high-quality development, from completing the top-level design to launching large-scale substantive construction, to taking over Beijing's non-capital functions and advancing construction simultaneously.

The first batch of landmark relocation projects have been implemented in Xiongan New Area. The main structure of the China Star Network headquarters project has been capped, the construction of the headquarters projects of China National Chemical Corporation and China Huaneng has been accelerated, and China Mineral Resources Group has registered and landed in the new area and completed the site selection of its headquarters. The first batch of 4 relocated universities and 2 relocated hospitals have determined their sites. The kindergartens, primary schools and middle schools supported by Beijing in a "turnkey" manner have been completed and handed over to the new area, and central enterprises have established various institutions in the new area, totaling more than 140.

A batch of market-oriented relocation projects are also being promoted in an orderly manner. On November 23, 2022, the unveiling and launching ceremony of the China Railway Group's industrial cluster relocation to Xiongan New Area was held. This is the first central enterprise industrial cluster to settle in Xiongan New Area.

The construction of Xiongan New Area is racing against time and accelerating in an all-round way. The "four horizontal and ten vertical" backbone road network in the starting area has been fully started, and the "three horizontal and four vertical" backbone road network in the starting area is ready for traffic.

The construction site of the Sinochem 001 Building project is in full swing. In the foundation pit with a diameter of nearly 100 meters, 56 steel structure columns have been erected. As the future headquarters base of Sinochem Holdings Co., Ltd., the 001 Building project is expected to cap the main structure before the end of this year and be completed before December 31 next year. After completion, the building will become the tallest landmark building in Xiongan New Area, which can meet the office needs of 1,000-1,200 employees.

In the CCCC Future Science and Technology Innovation City in the hub area of the high-speed railway station in Xiongan New Area, high-rise buildings are magnificent. Ren Xiaozheng, general manager of China Communications Construction Xiongan Industrial Development Co., Ltd., said that the total construction area of the Science and Technology Innovation City is 1.4 million square meters. Its main function is to undertake the relocation of large and medium-sized enterprises and research institutes from Beijing. Currently, there are more than 270 companies interested in signing contracts, of which smart transportation companies account for about 50%.

Beijing Yanshen Technology Co., Ltd. is one of the first 12 companies in Beijing's Zhongguancun to sign a strategic cooperation agreement with Xiongan New Area. "The company has identity recognition technologies such as face, iris, and finger vein, which are highly consistent with the innovation-driven development positioning of the new area." Zhang Hui, the company's brand marketing director, said, "Since settling in Xiongan New Area in 2018, the company has implemented more than 30 intelligent scenarios, added more than 200 new patents, and participated in the formulation and revision of 59 national and industry standards."

"I've never seen a new city built to take over Beijing's non-capital functions." Ding Jinjun, deputy director of the Reform and Development Bureau of Xiongan New Area, said, "As one of Beijing's new "two wings", Xiongan New Area must find its own coordinates in the overall situation of relieving Beijing's non-capital functions and promoting the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. We must strive to create a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, rule of law, and internationalized, and create the "Xiongan Service" brand through innovative systems and mechanisms."

The spring sun is returning, and everything is renewed. Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, we will fully implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, adhere to the great historical perspective, maintain historical patience, work one after another, year after year, ensure that the blueprint is carried out to the end, and strive to create "Xiong'an quality". Xiong'an New Area is striving to create a Chinese model of high-quality development.

A new journey, a new spring. The city of the future, speed up to the future!

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