Recently, the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office and Beijing Joint Working Office to Promote Coordinated Development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) Region co-organized a media tour for foreign journalists stationed in Beijing. With a focus on BTH coordinated development, the event attracted journalists from over ten foreign media outlets, including Channel One Russia, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), and The Financial News of the Republic of Korea (ROK).
Foreign journalists visited the Beijing Daxing International Airport, the Airport Economic Zone and Comprehensive Bonded Zone, the Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone, and the Daxing Biomedicine Industrial Base. Through these field visits, they gained insights into the achievements made in transportation infrastructure, coordinated innovation, industrial collaboration, and high-level opening-up in the BTH region. They also saw vivid examples of how the BTH region has been developed into a pilot and demonstration zone for Chinese modernization since the national strategy for coordinated development in the region was launched.
Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei connected by rail
The first stop was Caoqiao City Terminal, an ideal place to try out speech recognition for ticket purchases and early check-in at the self-service ticket machines. The journalists then boarded the Airport Express to the Beijing Daxing International Airport, experiencing the seamless connection between air and land transportation. Upon arrival, they were briefed on the BTH one-hour traffic circle underpinned by the Beijing-Xiong’an intercity railway, Beijing-Xiong’an Expressway, and the intercity railway linking Tianjin with Beijing Daxing International Airport. Along the way, the constant stream of passengers further evidenced the sound connectivity in the BTH region.
Integrated development and two Free Trade Precincts create a new benchmark for BTH coordinated development
“Are there similar comprehensive bonded zones at airports in other regions of China?” “How many companies are currently located in the Airport Economic Zone?” These were among the questions posed by journalists interested in the development of the Beijing Daxing International Airport Economic Zone and Comprehensive Bonded Zone.
The local representative responded, “This is China’s only Airport Economic Zone that spans across provincial-level jurisdictions. The Airport Economic Zone also hosts the Pilot Free Trade Zone and Comprehensive Bonded Zone, allowing it to offer triple policy benefits. We warmly welcome you to visit and report on this place, and hope that more companies from your country will invest and settle here.”
Collaborative sci-tech innovation ensures high-quality development in the BTH region
In the following trip, the journalists visited the Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone where they saw the hydrogen refueling station, hydrogen engines, and hydrogen-powered vehicles. They also visited the Medical Devices Park of the Daxing Biomedicine Industrial Base to learn about how this base has grown into a high-end and specialized industrial park by developing a sound ecosystem featuring research, production, commerce, exhibition, and treatment industries. Such remarkable projects drawn wide interests from the journalists.
“As the development of the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center (BMC) and Xiong’an New Area gathers pace, the BTH region is witnessing continuous progress in sci-tech innovation and industrial integration,” said an official from the Beijing Joint Working Office to Promote Coordinated Development of the BTH Region, who explained Beijing’s efforts to promote BTH coordinated development and engaged in discussions with the journalists.
