Beijing has recently issued an Action Plan for Achieving New Breakthroughs in Beijing’s Pursuit of High-Quality Development (2023-2025) (hereinafter referred to as the Action Plan) in support of the capital’s high-quality development in the long term and its ongoing economic recovery.
The Action Plan seeks to integrate high-quality development in the capital into the strategy for coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, strengthening collaborative innovation and industrial cooperation with a focus on integrating the new development pattern with the "five key projects": building Beijing into an international center for scientific and technological innovation; advancing the "Two Zones" initiative (i.e. the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and China (Beijing) Free Trade Zone); developing the digital economy; stimulating new demand through supply-side structural reform; and making greater headway in the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, relieving Beijing of functions non-essential to its role as the national capital. It will make good use of its educational, technological, talent, and cultural resources to give prominence to its leading role as the national capital, do more work to ensure both development and security, and to improve its capacity in post-disaster recovery and reconstruction as well as the capacity in disaster prevention and mitigation. The Action Plan systematically outlines a set of targeted, comprehensive, and synergistic policy measures with 50 specific tasks in five aspects, which are aimed at achieving new results in the capital’s pursuit of high-quality development.
The new results are to be achieved primarily on five fronts.
Strengthening innovation and consolidating industrial and supply chains
Promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region
Beijing will fully leverage its core role in driving the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, consider industrial integration as key component of the region’s coordinated development, and promote the deeper integration of regional innovation, industrial and supply chains.
Collaborative innovation in the region will be boosted based on the effort to build a Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei community of collaborative innovation. Innovators will be encouraged to establish incubation and pilot bases, a sound "supply-demand matchmaking list" mechanism will be put in place to facilitate the application of scientific and technological achievements in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, and the service platforms for such application will be encouraged to offer cross-regional services.
To promote industrial cooperation within the region, Beijing will seek to relieve itself of functions non-essential to its role as the national capital, such as conventional manufacturing enterprises, and vigorously develop advanced and sophisticated industries marked by intelligence, environmental friendliness and integration. While playing a leading role in the region, Beijing will also work with Tianjin and Hebei to refine the blueprint for the industrial chain and formulate policies for extending the chain and providing essential support.
The modern capital metropolitan area will be built based on integrated transportation infrastructure in the region, which will incorporate a commuting circle around Beijing, a functional circle with Beijing, Tianjin and Xiong'an New Area as key hubs, and an industrial circle with strategic cities as focal points. Economic corridors of high-quality development will be developed based on the transportation corridors. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei railways will be built to boost direct connections with important functional areas in the vicinity.
Promoting innovation-driven development
Advancing the development of major global science centers and innovation hubs
The capital's strengths in education, science and technology, and human resources will be brought into play in a systematic way to boost its capacity for high-level self-reliance, thus laying a strong foundation for an international center for scientific and technological innovation.
Beijing will create a group of world-class platforms for the open sharing of major innovations.
Beijing will make breakthroughs in removing bottlenecks in the development of some core technologies in key fields and introduce a leading action plan for basic research so as to drive the development of applied basic research in meeting the needs for core technologies in key fields.
Beijing will gather a pool of internationally influential high-level talents, strategic scientists and technology leaders, support researchers willing to start businesses with their technologies, products and teams, and introduce and cultivate a group of CEOs supporting the scientists in their entrepreneurial endeavors.
Beijing will build a larger contingent of exemplary technology innovation enterprises, establish an independent innovation system for industrial technology, support technologically leading enterprises to form innovation consortiums with universities, research institutes, and upstream and downstream companies, and encourage renowned multinational corporations and top international research organizations to establish physical foreign-funded research and development centers in the city. It will establish a full-lifecycle support and service system for technology enterprises, further nurture and serve unicorn enterprises, and support specialized and sophisticated enterprises to strengthen their specialization.
Beijing will take a set of reform measures in support of innovation in all aspects, expand the implementation of eligible new pilot policies in Zhongguancun to the entire demonstration zone, establish a research funding management model that conforms to the laws of technological innovation and introduce an implementation plan for the Zhongguancun Financial Reform for Technological Innovation Pilot Zone.
Developing advanced and sophisticated industries
Building a modern industrial system with greater international competitiveness
Beijing will continue to pursue innovation-driven development, accelerate the cultivation of artificial intelligence and other emerging industries, and promote the green and low-carbon transformation of its industrial structure. The integrated development of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries and that of the digital economy and real economy will be advanced to accelerate the development of a modern industrial system.
Beijing will explore more effective models and feasible paths for promoting data resources as assets and developing the data market and industry, take the lead in developing basic data systems on trial basis and doing the same in security assessment permissions for outbound data transfer, and encourage manufacturing enterprises to build digital headquarters. It will consolidate advanced digital infrastructure and promote the coordinated supply of computing resources.
Beijing will intensify efforts to develop competitive, advanced and sophisticated industries such as new-generation information technology, bio-medicine, intelligence-connected vehicles, artificial intelligence, and robotics. It will speed up the development of the Agricultural Zhongguancun to make itself a city of seed industry. It will create a compensation mechanism for the exchange of Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) and Gross Regional Product (GRP) between the plains and ecological conservation areas. Efforts will also be made to consolidate and expand the development strengths of the financial industry and to promote the optimization and upgrading of the professional services industry to accelerate the integration of the two sectors.
Beijing will seize the opportunities brought by carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets for industrial development, facilitate more vigorous development in the new energy industry, implement the plan for the high-quality development of new energy vehicles, promote breakthroughs in smart grid technology and its application, and encourage the construction of hydrogen fueling stations.
Creating new demand
Promoting investment and consumption
The level of consumption will be raised and its quality improved. Beijing will seek to take national measures to restore and expand consumption, increase employment and people’s income, and provide people with new products and services that are more affordable, more technologically advanced, and more in line with their needs. The city will make better use of its strengths in digital, green and international consumption, as well as services consumption in culture, tourism, sports, recreation, health care, and exhibitions, and build a modern logistics system that operates more efficiently and smoothly to improve the quality of supply for consumption. It will accelerate the development of the "dual-hub" international consumption bridgehead and industries for consumption upgrading in Tianzhu Comprehensive Bonded Zone. The transformation and upgrading of key business districts in accordance with the special commercial consumption spatial layout plan will be supported to ensure a full coverage of convenient resident services in the whole city within a 15-minute radius.
Investment will be promoted on a manageable scale and within an optimized structure. Beijing will focus on better combining investment scheduling, factor support, project reserves, and investment and financing reforms, and giving full play to the role of investment in optimizing the supply structure. The city will also expand investment in industrial projects and support the development of a number of key industrial clusters, step up urban renewal actions and carry out pilot programs on comprehensive urban renewal in certain areas. It will vigorously promote investment by the private sector. Key projects will be introduced to the private sector every year with a total investment of more than CNY 200 billion, and private sector investors will be encouraged to be involved in the pilot programs on infrastructure real estate investment trusts (REITs).
Stepping up efforts to fulfill critical reform tasks and expand opening up
Accelerating the development of the "two zones"
Beijing will promote high-level opening up, make full use of the resources allocated by central authorities for developing the "two zones", "three platforms" and Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE), introduce landmark, leading and pioneering foreign investment projects, pilot the alignment of domestic rules with the ones in high-standard international free trade agreements, and enhance the functions of high-standard open parks. The city will push international exchanges and cooperation based on the "three platforms" to a new level, advance the high-quality development of foreign investment and trade, improve listing services for enterprises, and further empower the BSE.
All-out efforts will be made to build the "Beijing Service" business environment brand. The reforms on integrated services such as the "one license for one industry" and "one-stop service for all" and integrated comprehensive supervision will be deepened from the perspective of enterprises.