Building Bohai Bay economic zone a challenge: Official

"The initiative has progressed in recent years. The three places signed cooperative agreements on different areas, but Xi's symposium really got the ball rolling," Zong said.

Tianjin and Hebei set up a bilateral coordination group that holds monthly meetings to break institutional barriers and carry out exchanges in a smooth and timely manner.

Beijing holds the key to regional integration

Tianjin Port throughput surpasses 500m tons

As Zong admitted, the coordinated development of the three areas requires regional planning that transcends administrative boundaries. "Tianjin and Hebei may have to adjust their original target to better fit the current model in coordinated regional development," he said.

The integration of harbors, which has been a long-standing obstacle hindering regional incorporation, is certainly one of the items that requires a breakthrough.

While Tianjin is striving to build itself into an "international shipping center", as the State Council has required of it, Hebei is also quickly catching up with the construction of ports and trying to seize as much market share as possible.

Caofeidian, Hebei's most important port, is set to overtake Tianjin in terms of deepwater berths. It is also offering larger storage space at a lower price to lure more ships from Tianjin, which currently ranks as the fourth largest port in the world.

Yang Kaizhong, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said both Tianjin and Hebei province rely heavily on port economics in local development so coordinated development of the region means the function of these ports must be integrated.

"It means, to some extent, some local interests have to be sacrificed for the development of the whole area," he said.

"In addition, more favorable policies that can promote public facilities should be handed over to Tianjin and Hebei because some industries and laborers are expected to be transferred to those two areas, increasing the burden (on infrastructure)."

Among all the problems that must addressed before the three areas can be genuinely integrated, Zong said he considers regional interconnection as the one that needs the most urgent effort.

"It is the premise on which everything else is based," he said.