BEIJING -- The construction of the main structure of Xiongan railway station's west section was completed on Friday, according to sources from the China Railway.

It marks an important step in the construction of the intercity railroad linking Beijing and Xiongan New Area in North China's Hebei province, which is set to be operational by the end of this year.

With a total construction area of 475,000 square meters, the Xiongan railway station is the biggest one among the five stations along the 92.4-km-long intercity railroad.

The project of the railway station will make Xiongan a key transportation hub well connected with the central, southern, northwestern, southwestern and northeastern parts of China.

In a master development plan for Xiongan New Area published in 2018, the Chinese government described the new region as having "national significance" following the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and Shanghai Pudong New Area.

About 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing, Xiongan New Area, known as China's "city of the future," has been designed to become a zone for innovation, a digital city synchronized with a brick-and-mortar one and a livable and business-friendly area.

By the middle of the century, Xiongan will become a significant part of the world-class Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster, effectively performing Beijing's non-capital functions and providing a Chinese solution to "big city malaise," according to the plan.