Development gap shrinking for Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei

The regional development gap is shrinking for Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province, a key report says.

In a far-reaching survey, more than 60 percent of the 1,200 people questioned felt that integrated transportation links - roads, rail and airways-had made significant progress over the past decade and brought the regions closer together.

Along with the survey, detailed government data are contained in the Index Report for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Integrated Development, published by a think tank of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on June 5.

"This is the first substantial research into the integrated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei," says Zhao Jianying, director of China Social Sciences Press, the publisher of the report.

"This helps to assess the development status."

In 2014, President Xi Jinping proposed plans to integrate Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province.

A year later, the Outline Plan of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Integrated Development was approved by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Part of the report shows rapid development in the three regions since 2005 in fields such as innovation and the environment.

"The research is more scientific than other reports because we have combined statistics with a subjective questionnaire survey," said Huang Qunhui, director of the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the think tank behind the report.

Green development has increased in the three regions, the report says, but residents were still suffering from pollution.

About 59 percent of those polled believed air quality in the areas was not improving but deteriorating, and up to 65 percent said pollution controls were not effective enough.

More than 90 percent also believed that moving Beijing's manufacturing sector out of the capital was the correct decision.

About 68 percent felt that high-quality educational resources were lacking in Tianjin and Hebei.

In addition, state-owned central enterprises have struggled to keep up with integrated development plans in the three areas, the report says.

mengfanbin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/09/2017 page28)