Standing Committee consensus: Innovation will drive development

The Xiongan New Area should become a city of innovation and a role model to promote high-quality development across the country, according to an official release after a meeting on Thursday chaired by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

It was decided that a digital city should be planned and built simultaneously in Xiong-an, after the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee listened to briefings about the planning compilation of the new area.

A slew of national-level innovation programs will be built as planned by the country to make the new area innovation-driven, according to the release.

Highly efficient transportation networks should cover Xiongan, and a multilevel, people friendly network offering basic public services should be built there, the release said.

China announced its plan in April 2017 to establish Xiongan New Area.

Located about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing, Xiongan geographically covers part of Hebei province's Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin counties.

According to the report of the 19th CPC National Congress delivered in October, the country aims to "develop forward-looking plans and adopt high standards for building Xiongan New Area".

Patience should be ensured during the city's construction, the statement said.

Important progress has been made in the planning compilation of Xiongan as the plan has been reviewed and perfected through in-depth surveys, discussions and soliciting advice, it said.

The planning and building of Xiongan, in pursuit of international standards and Chinese features, should fulfill the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and be under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. In addition, measures should be deliberated upon and issued in the near future to support Xiong-an's gearing up its paces of reform and opening-up.

A batch of fundamental major projects should be initiated at appropriate times to ensure a good start in the construction of the new area, the release said.

Efforts to build Xiongan should respect natural laws and result in an organized urban layout, and Xiongan should integrate regional culture, natural landscapes and the New Era's requirement, it said.