Work on the region around Beijing, as far as the city of Tianjin and some Hebei provincial cities, is speeding up and is expected to help develop Hebei's transportation, service, and tourism industry.

The National Development and Reform Commission began work on a plan to promote development in the capital and the region, back in 2004, and, by the first year of the 12th Five-year Plan (2011–2015), could clearly see how the capital region was going.

In commenting on the development plan, some people complained that rapid development of the capital had little effect on Hebei, which was lagging behind in economic development.

Some people have explained that Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei can work to make their respective advantages complement each other and that the idea of a capital economic region is a good one for everyone involved.

Beijing's advantages lie in science and technology and human resource, and Hebei can use these to develop its own science and technology and improve its existing agricultural resources, while Tianjin is already an industrial center with harbors.

In doing so, Hebei can introduce technology and talented personnel from Beijing and use Beijing and Tianjin as markets for its products.

Transportation is one of the first steps in this capital development and, this past June, Hebei and Beijing signed an agreement on an expressway to connect key cities, including Zhuozhou, Langfang, Daxing, Tongzhou, Sanhe and Pinggu.

Analysts have said that an integrated transportation network is the foundation of the joint development and that more convenient transportation will mean the smooth movement of human resources and materials.

An NDRC official said that the service industry is a key to the development of the metropolitan area and that one advantage of capital region is that its core is in Beijing, the political and cultural center of the nation.