Chinese President Xi Jinping signals fresh drive to move state institutions out of Beijing
- During a tour of Xiongan New Area, the Chinese leader calls for greater efforts to move government, academic and financial headquarters out of the capital
- Xi is accompanied by a number of senior officials in a probable sign that the relocation process will be speeded up
The goal is to relocate some state-run institutions, including state-owned enterprises and universities based in Beijing, to the site, which is about 100km (60 miles) southwest of Beijing, to ease the pressures caused by the capital’s large population.
The plan has been viewed with suspicion by some observers as the landlocked area is not close to any regional commercial hubs and there are few incentives for people to move there.
But during Wednesday’s tour, Xi hailed the decision to build this new district as “completely correct”, and praised the progress of the project as “solid and effective”.
“It is a miracle seeing the sophisticated modern city rising from the ground, considering these were achieved under challenging conditions as the world is undergoing major changes not seen in a century and the Covid-19 epidemic over the past three years. That is not easy,” Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Xi said the development of Xiongan was “a plan of a thousand years” and ordered officials to make a sustained effort to push it forward.
