Xi Jinping gives China’s mega capital Jing-Jin-Ji plans a nudge with high-powered visit

China is eight years into its grand plan to develop the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region into an integrated megalopolis and much of the success of the scheme will rest on the political will of Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to observers.

The mega project would realise an ambition to reshape Beijing into one of the world’s grand political and cultural capitals, while its surrounding areas would morph into a new innovation centre for northern China.

Xi sought to give the plan another nudge earlier this month during a two-day trip to Hebei province, saying the development of Beijing’s new municipal administrative centre and the Xiongan New Area would act as “two wings” for the scheme, known as the Jing-Jin-Ji project.

As a sign of his determination to advance the project, Xi brought some of the country’s most senior figures with him, including three most trusted members of the Politburo Standing Committee: Premier Li Qiang, director of the General Office of the Communist Party’s Central Committee Cai Qi, and first Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang.