Shoemakers to move out of Xiongan New Area

SHIJIAZHUANG -- Xiongan New Area plans to move low-end shoemaking, one of its former major industries, elsewhere as the area is targeting high-end and high-tech sectors.

Shoe and clothes manufacturers in Anxin county will be mobilized to move to nearby Dingzhou city, where a center combining shoe and clothes production, sales, display, logistics and other supporting facilities will be built.

According to an agreement signed earlier this month between Anxin's shoemaking industrial association and Dingzhou city, the project will cover a total area of 667 hectares, using environmentally friendly design.

Construction of the project will begin next year, and the association will be in charge of the resettlement after its completion.

Dubbed "shoe capital of north China," Anxin County has an industrial history of shoe manufacturing of more than 30 years with over 1,000 shoemakers, according to Yang Baochang, Party chief of the county.

Wang Dongqun, Party chief of Dingzhou city, said the new shoe and clothes center would help upgrade the traditional shoemaking industry.

China announced plans in April to establish the Xiongan New Area, a new economic zone about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing in Hebei Province. It covers Hebei's Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin counties.