Xinhua Insight: Hopes, dreams and prospects for China's city of the future
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E-mail Xinhua, May 31, 2017
XIONGAN NEW AREA, Hebei, May 31 (Xinhua) -- China is building a new city from scratch near its overcrowded capital and for the 1 million locals who already live there, it could be a boom town.
Li Xin, 22, completed an internship last year at -- what was at the time -- a rural high school in a nondescript county just outside Beijing. When the plans for Xiongan New Area were announced, she moved quickly and called the school to accept the offer of a permanent position she had rejected two months before.
Initially it was not a very desirable option for even an average graduate like Li to work in an obscure county like Xiongxian, but that has suddenly changed.
A TALENT MAGNET
On April 1, Xiongan New Area, spanning the counties of Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin in Hebei Province, was announced. The area will be eco-friendly with optimal urban layout, great public services and innovative development strategies.
Heading for big cities has been a choice for many rural students in the past decades, seeking for a better fortune. However, many are coming back.
Zhao Wenxiang, Party chief of Zhaozhuangzi village in the heart of the new area, says that out of a dozen college graduates from the village, five plan to come back, a number unheard of in previous years.
The new area is dedicated to high-tech industries and intended to be a hotbed of innovation that will build up a head of steam and bring fresh momentum to China's economy.
Prosperous in their hearts, the immense wealth generated by big cities like Beijing has failed to trickle down to peripheral areas. Places in their shadow like Xiongan remain comparatively poor.
The three counties that the new area covers reported a combined GDP of about 20 billion yuan (3 billion U.S. dollars) last year, less than 1 percent of Beijing's economic output.
"Previously, it was unimaginable to have a teaching applicant from a quality university," said Zhao Yonghong, director of Xiongxian's education bureau.
Salaries in the county are much lower than in the capital. It is hard for schools to recruit enough teachers, causing a vicious circle of wasted talent and missed opportunity.
What was once a brain drain is likely to become a talent magnet given that colleges of the caliber of Peking University plan new campuses in Xiongan, which according to plan will be a receiver of higher education institutions, besides other functions.
"Human resources are key to building the city, but to attract the right kind of people, you must offer the highest quality of education for their children," Zhao said.
EVERY COIN HAS TWO SIDES
A house-buying frenzy, which followed the announcement of the plans, has been firmly stamped out, but local rents have tripled as non-locals swarm into the area seeking opportunity.
Jinhai Group, a garment factory listed on the ChiNext Index, China's Nasdaq-style board, saw many visitors this month, looking for jobs or cooperation opportunities. Rongcheng County is already a garment manufacturing base, with 900 businesses providing 70,000 jobs.
"I'm waiting for more substantial offers," said general manager Xue Xinjian.
Xue is eager to transform his business model as rising labor costs have eroded his profits. He says 60 percent of his products go for export. A man's suit only fetches about 30 dollars.
"We have no top-notch designers nor a well-connected sales team plugged into fashion trends, so we cannot respond quickly to the changing market," he said, hoping the new area will bring design partners and transformation.
Like many low-end factory owners, Xue and hundreds of local garment factories look forward to moving into a custom-built industry park in the new area.
"Unlike businessmen in southern coastal areas, we missed our chance to get rich in the past 30 years," Xue said. "Our time is now."
Chen Yao, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Xiongan, as a part of an urban agglomerate, had to make the most of its own advantages on the industrial chain.
"New ideas might not be originated in the new area, but by cooperating with innovation hubs like Beijing, the new area can commercialize these ideas," Chen said.
While some businesses celebrate new opportunities, there is no shortage of companies in the area uncertain about the future. Taidou Group, a cable maker, is one such business. The factory employs 600 workers and produces quality cable for the infrastructure building boom propelled by the Belt and Road Initiative.
Cable-making is, or was, one of the pillar industries in Xiongxian, but the 60 or so manufacturers are mostly small workshops and produce a lot of pollution, a far cry from the proffered dreams of an eco-friendly urban utopia.
Xu Linghua with Taidou worries that his business may have to close or be relocated.
"We meet existing national environmental standards, but Xiongan is going to be different, with much stricter demands," Xu said. He is waiting to see the specifics of the government plans before making a final decision.
EXPECTING A CHANGE
Early in the morning on an ordinary working day, Wang Zhonghui, 63, and Zhao Linsan, 62, lay idly on their flat boats in the Baiyangdian lake, arguing.
"I'm having my pension now. But what will the young people do if all the small factories disappear?" Zhao asked.
"You know nothing about it. Big companies are going to move in, even our unskilled kids will have jobs," Wang responded, referring to the prospect that Xiongan will be home to Beijing's administrative organs, large enterprises, colleges and research institutions.
These employers will not be staffed exclusively by rocket scientists and e-billionaires, but will employ huge number of cleaners, drivers, canteen staff, security guards and garbage collectors.
Both Wang and Zhao are boatmen who grew up along the lake. They make a little extra money by rowing tourists about. Tourism suddenly took off in April.
"When the new city comes into being, I guess manpower will be needed to offer services on the lake," said local farmer Wang Mutou, 66. "But we have to change our way of doing things to adapt to the future. Our lifestyle is bound to change. That may be hard. But I'm sure it will benefit my grandchildren and later generations."
New prospective teacher Li's optimism is not mitigated by any fears or worries.
"I'm betting on it," she said. "I want to be among the first real residents of this new city." Enditem
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