A document to guide reforms in Xiong’an New Area was issued by central authorities on January 24.  The proposed new city of Xiong’an is in Hebei, 100 km south of Beijing. Xi Jinping wants Xiong’an city to become the commercial hub of the Jing-Jin-Ji area. He visited the city just the week  before issue of the central guidelines. The document states the city will have the same authority as a province when it comes to economic and social management and will have a free hand to organise its government institutions as it sees fit. The city will also gradually be given more authority as times goes on. The document directs the support headquarters or branches of state-owned enterprises in Beijing to move to Xiong’an New Area and says efforts must be made to support Xiong’an New Area in attracting innovative and high-growth tech companies from Beijing. The Xiong’an reform document describes what the city should look like in 2050. It states: (i) “Wherever the new area expands, Party organizations will be there.” (ii) “To the greatest extent possible, [we should] reduce government allocation of market resources and direct government intervention in market activities.” (iii) “[We will] establish a system that is in line with international trade and investment rules.”(iv)“Supportive fiscal, science and technology, and financial policies…will apply equally to domestic and foreign-funded enterprises.” (v)“Individual’s homes will primarily be shared ownership [i.e. by government and individuals].” (vi) “We will] exploring the establishment of an integrated smart city management mode'." and “[We will] explore including resource consumption, environmental damage, and ecological damage in the calculation of development costs.”

(Comment: The new city has the personal backing of Xi Jinping.)