From rapidly progressing infrastructure to technological achievements, the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has been impressive since the proposal of a national strategy dedicated to coordinated development of the region came out in February 2014.
In the past ten years, a total of 15.956 million new jobs were created in cities and towns in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, with 3.162 million, 4.411 million and 8.383 million new jobs added in the three places respectively.
Enterprises, experts and local residents in the region briefed the Global Times major achievements realized in the past decade, as well as regional development potential in emerging industries.
The launch of the high-speed railway line connecting Beijing and Zhangjiakou in North China's Hebei Province in 2019 cuts the commute time between the two cities from three hours to less than one hour, a Zhangjiakou resident surnamed Liu who works in Beijing told the Global Times on Monday.
The value added of Beijing's digital economy reached 1.88 trillion yuan ($261.18 billion) in 2023 from 871.94 billion yuan in 2015, accounting for 42.9% of the capital city's GDP now.
Experts highlight the development of new productive forces, especially in the strategic emerging industries and industries of the future, as a focal point for the region's future development.
In 2023, the GDP of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region reached 10.4 trillion yuan, or 1.9 times that of 2013 at current prices.
As for regional environment, a research report revealed that air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has kept improving in the past several years, with PM2.5 concentrations decreasing by 64.2% in Beijing, 57.3% in Tianjin and 64.3% in Hebei Province in 2023, compared with 2013.