Comrade Xi Jinping: the man behind China’s big plan to turn a backwater into a ‘dream city’
Xinhua report reveals how president put his stamp on decision to transform three Hebei counties
Overcrowding in today’s Beijing – in contrast to the tranquil capital of President Xi Jinping’s youth – was one of the factors behind an ambitious plan to transform a Hebei backwater into a new economic zone.
The glimpse into the decision making process behind the creation of the Xiongan New Area was one of several contained in a report released on Friday by Xinhua, the official news agency.
The Communist Party’s Central Committee announced on April 1 that Anxin, Rongcheng and Xiong counties – about 160km south of Beijing – would be home to a new district to rival special economic zones like Shenzhen.
The Xinhua report portrayed Xi as the mastermind of the scheme to create a “dream city” from scratch. Xi, who spent his childhood and early teens in a quiet and relaxed Beijing, was unhappy the capital had become crowded and noisy, and decided the solution was “to relocate some city functions [of Beijing] to Hebei and Tianjin”, the report said.
At the end of 2014, Xi told senior cadres that Beijing must reduce its “population density”, and in April 2015, he told the Politburo that a site had to be found in Hebei for a new city.
Unlike the builders of Brasilia in Brazil, Xi does not envisage a new capital but a satellite town to absorb some of Beijing’s institutions, schools, laboratories and corporate head offices.