Xi Jinping’s dream city ‘won’t succeed without market reforms’
Urban development expert warns that Xiongan will never be transformed into a hi-tech utopia if it is too reliant on state control
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambition to build a dream city in the country’s industrial heartland is unlikely to come true without more aggressive market-oriented reforms, a researcher affiliated with China’s state planner has warned.
The comments by Qiao Runling, an urban development expert at the National Development and Reform Commission, follows the pledge to transform the Xiongan New Area into the next business hub along the lines of Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Speaking at a forum held by financial news outlet Caixin last week, Qiao said the tight government control over the economy in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, which covers Xiongan, had become a barrier that would prevent Xi’s dream from coming true.
“The conditions there for private sector development are much worse than those in the Yangtze River Delta,” Qiao said. “How can Xiongan start to boom from this kind of soil? There has to be a big question mark.”
The region has for decades been dominated by heavy industries like steel, leading to severe environmental problems.