[At the Scene in the News] "We Will Provide 9 Billion Won in Research Funds," Xi Jinping's New City 'Xiong'an New Area'

What do the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, Shanghai Pudong New Area, and Binhai New Area have in common? They are all legacy projects that China’s past leaders focused on developing intensively during their terms.

Former Chairman Deng Xiaoping led the development of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone as a city to spearhead reform and opening-up, while former Chairman Jiang Zemin nurtured Shanghai Pudong New Area into China’s financial hub. Tianjin’s Binhai New Area is a new economic city developed with the political aspirations of former Chairman Hu Jintao. On the 7th, the ‘Xiong’an New Area,’ which is attracting talent with unprecedented conditions such as offering up to 9 billion KRW worth of research funding per scientist, is also a national-level new city being developed by President Xi Jinping with a similar purpose.

Xiongan New Area, Hebei Province, China. Source=Yonhap News

In April 2017, President Xi announced the ‘Xiong’an New Area Project,’ a plan to build a mega new city covering a total area of 1,770 km² located 100 km southwest of Beijing. At that time, he declared the Xiong’an New Area, created by merging three regions?Xiong County, Anxin County, and Rongcheng County in Hebei Province?as a “millennial plan and national priority,” designating it as the top national project. The investment until the target completion year of 2035 exceeds 400 trillion KRW.

Xiong’an New Area emphasizes eco-friendliness, innovation, and smart technology. To this end, more than 70% of the city’s area will be developed as green spaces or lakes, and based on 5th generation mobile communication (5G) and artificial intelligence (AI), digital roads, autonomous vehicles, and unmanned parking lots will be established to highlight innovation and smart features. The area also plans to attract a large number of advanced industries such as IT, life sciences, eco-friendly energy, and new materials, aiming to become China’s future industrial hub.

On the same day, Xiong’an New Area announced it would offer top scientists leading fields such as next-generation information technology, life sciences and biotechnology, new materials, aerospace, eco-friendly energy, and financial science and technology up to 50 million yuan (approximately 8.94 billion KRW) in research funding and 3 million yuan (approximately 536 million KRW) in living expenses to attract talent. The fact that Xiong’an New Area is taking the lead as a gathering place for China’s top scientific talent is significant. Amid intensifying US-China competition over dominance in advanced industries such as semiconductors, China has clearly expressed its intention to counter the US by promoting Xiong’an New Area, President Xi’s flagship project.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.