Xiong'an eyes hub of innovation, startups

Xiong'an New Area in North China's Hebei province is building itself into a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship in the new era, with the area's atmosphere for innovation and entrepreneurship becoming increasingly strong, a top provincial official said on Wednesday.

Based on the initial batch of relocated units or companies from Beijing, the area has promoted two major innovative chains — one for aerospace information and satellite internet tech and the other dedicated to collaborative innovation among relocated universities, Ni Yuefeng, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress and secretary of the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee, said during the Hebei delegation's opening media day on Wednesday.

Xiong'an New Area came into being on April 1, 2017, when China announced the decision to establish it in the capital's neighbor Hebei to relieve Beijing of functions not essential to its role as the nation's capital and to advance coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Since then, China's centrally administered State-owned enterprises have set up more than 200 subsidiaries and branches in Xiong'an, said Zhang Guohua, an NPC deputy and secretary of the CPC Work Committee of the Xiong'an New Area.

"Xiong'an is vigorously developing high-end and high-tech industries, establishing over 10 innovation platforms including a science and technology innovation center, an innovation research institute and a high-tech development zone," Zhang said during the media event.

In addition, as of February, the area has implemented a total of 383 key projects, with a completed investment of 671 billion yuan ($93.4 billion). The development area covers 184 square kilometers, with a total construction area of 43.7 million square meters, according to the work committee.

In Xiong'an, over 4,010 new buildings have been erected, along with 712 kilometers of new roads, 141 km of new underground utility tunnels and 315 km of new hydraulic engineering embankments.

Mingzhi Data Co, a Beijing-based entrepreneurial enterprise, just set up its branch in the area earlier this month.

"After seven years of construction and development, I've seen that Xiong'an is full of opportunities for innovative firms like mine," said He Cheng, founder and CEO of Mingzhi Data Co.

Having worked in the field of IT and big data for more than 10 years in Beijing, He said his company is dedicated to providing intelligent management of offline stores including chains of restaurants and retail outlets based on big data and intelligent technology.

"The area has become a fertile ground for innovation and business ventures, and I believe there's great potential for my company to expand here with multiple chances to find new customers," He said, adding that he would consider transferring his firm's headquarters from Beijing to Xiong'an in the future.

Other than the innovative atmosphere that has attracted He to develop a branch in Xiong'an, there are other key factors enticing him back to Xiong'an. He is actually a local who grew up in Rongcheng county, which is now part of the new area, but worked in Beijing for over a decade.

"The government departments work very efficiently here in Xiong'an," he said, adding that the whole process of establishing the branch in Xiong'an to the final settling down with a ready office and all kinds of procedures and paperwork, only took about two months.

"What's more, the public services for personnel are very alluring so that my employees can have a high quality of life," he said. He listed several things like heavy subsidies for housing and offices, as well as high-quality education that can be compared to that of Beijing.

"The area is really building a people-centered city that is both livable and conducive to doing business," He said.