China is currently working on its program which aims to curb smog and boost income in Bejing’s neighboring region. According to Chinese state media, Beijing , as part of this program, will close around 1,000 manufacturing firms by 2020.
The plan was launched by the Chinese government with a goal of improving coordination in the smog-prone Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The problem was that there was an unhealthy level of competition between these three regions’ jurisdictions, and this caused a significant waste of resources, caused overcapacity and created a pollution problem.
The Communist Party paper People’s Daily reported that the Beijing municipal government will focus on dynamic, high-tech industries and will slowly abolish conventional manufacturing.
This is already happening there. 19,500 firms have been rejected for registration by the city and 2,465 were shut down or relocated. In the near future, manufacturing and heavy industry will be relocated completely from Beijing. Additionally, some universities and government departments will be also moved into Hebei’s new economic zone of Xiongan.
Moreover, the Chinese government has plans on attracting more investors to this region, which is known for its heavy industry. For this goal, it wants to create an integrated transport network and unify welfare, education and similar standards.
According to the official’s statement, the Hebei province’s average incomes increased by 41 percent since 2013. However, it is still only half the level of Beijing.
[Via Reuters]
