Xiong’an New Area in China provides model for high-quality development

Photo taken on Jan. 1, shows a Fuxing bullet train is ready to leave Xiong’an Railway Station in Xiong’an New Area, north China’s Hebei province, in the morning sunshine of the first day of the year 2021. (Photo by Sun Lijun/People’s Daily Online)

Before the arrival of the year of 2021, the Beijing-Xiong’an intercity railway linking China’s capital city Beijing with Xiong'an New Area, a state-level new area in north China’s Hebei province, opened to traffic.

It has shortened the travel time between Beijing West Railway Station and Xiong’an New Area to 50 minutes, and made it possible for passengers to reach the newly-built Beijing Daxing International Airport from the new area in 19 minutes.

Since April 1, 2017, when China announced its plans to establish Xiong’an New Area, the new area has witnessed how a blueprint has been turned into road maps, project schedules, and construction drawings within a few years.

As the first large-scale transport facility that broke ground since the establishment of the new area, Xiong’an Railway Station was completed on schedule and stared to serve travelers from all directions thanks to two years of hard work of constructors.

On nearly 300 construction sites of the new area, more than 100,000 builders are working tirelessly according to schedules of projects while ensuring strict measures for the prevention and control of the COVID-19, striving to make their own contributions to the high-quality development of the Xiong’an New Area.

Photo taken on Jan. 1, shows an aerial view of the Xiong’an Railway Station along the Beijing-Xiong’an intercity railway in rays of the morning sunshine. (Photo by Sun Lijun/People’s Daily Online)

In the first more than two years after its establishment, Xiong’an New Area had focused its efforts on planning, as it didn’t want to rush into construction before it had a clear plan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call for “global vision, international standards, distinctive Chinese features, and future-oriented goals” in the planning and construction of Xiong’an New Area has served as an important guideline for the development of the area.

So far, top-level design for the new area, including planning and policy systems, has been basically completed.

At present, construction of key districts and projects are in full swing in the new area, which has witnessed changes with each passing day as builders devote themselves to the construction of infrastructure including transport, water conservancy, and public service facilities, a close-to-nature forest system, and resettlement housing.

While major construction projects make Xiong’an New Area more beautiful, various other projects and schemes are also underway across the area, creating positive changes in the area in a gradual and orderly manner.

In the construction of the Xiong’an Railway Station, builders adopted building information modeling (BIM) technology, which enable engineers to provide an accurate description and calculation for the use of every inch of steel in the facility.

Resettlement buildings in Xiong’an New Area have been delivered after strict quality inspection. Construction supervisors have made sure that every little detail of the houses met relevant standards before they were accepted, including the exposed screw threads at the mechanical joints of reinforcement bars in walls.

Photo taken on Dec. 19, 2020, shows construction workers busy with the final construction of the west square of the Xiong’an Railway Station in Xiong’an New Area, north China’s Hebei province. (Photo by Liu Shuaiye/People’s Daily Online)

The efforts to explore smart building and ensure strict quality control have laid a solid foundation for high-quality and high-standard construction of projects in the Xiong’an New Area.

Not long ago, the administrative committee of Xiong’an New Area issued measures for the trial implementation of residence permit and points-based household registration system in the new area, marking an important step in the new area’s endeavor to deepen the reform of its population management system and services.

In recent years, builders have come to Xiong’an New Area from various parts of the country to chase their dreams, and have created a brand new area which is praised as China’s “city of the future”.

Some recalled that when they first came to the new area, the high-standard modern Xiong’an Railway Station was still quiet wilderness.

As wave after wave of builders diligently strive for excellence and realize their own value in the development of Xiong’an New Area, the new area is expected to maintain its fast growth momentum, and finally amaze everyone with a spectacular look in the new era.