Primary info from 2019 Hebei Government Work Report

The second session of the 17th Hebei Provincial People's Congress convened in Shijiazhuang, the capital city of North China's Hebei province on Jan 14, with the release of the government work report.

According to the report, Hebei's economy in 2018 saw high-speed growth. Its GDP rose by 6.6 percent year-on-year to 3.6 trillion yuan ($523.21 billion) while the per capita disposable income of the city's urban and rural residents grew by 8 percent and 8.9 percent. The general public budget revenue saw a yearly increase of 8.7 percent to 351.37 billion yuan.

The industrial structure of the province has been further optimized, with the shares of the three industrial structures adjusted to 9.3: 44.5: 46.2. The service sector contributed more than 60 percent to the province's economic growth.

The general income from tourism rose year-on-year by 24.4 percent to 763.64 billion yuan ($111.03 billion). The actually utilized foreign investment increased by 8.6 percent over the previous year to $9.7 billion, while the total import and export value grew by 5.5 percent to 355.16 billion yuan.

There were 1,800 newly added national-level high-tech enterprises in Hebei in 2018. Investment in high-tech industries grew by about 30.4 percent while the added value of strategic emerging industries increased by nearly 10 percent year-on-year.

The Hebei provincial government also set out its development goals for 2019 in the report.

It is hoped that regional GDP in 2019 will grow by around 6.5 percent, while general public budget revenue will increase by 6 percent. The per capita disposable income of the city's urban and rural residents will rise by about 7 percent and the registered unemployment rate in urban areas will remain below 4.5 percent.

Implementing major national strategies

Hebei will promote the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in breadth and depth. It will accelerate the construction of the Beijing-Xiongan Intercity Railway, and the Beijing-Qinhuangdao and Tianjin-Shijiazhuang expressways to support the construction of the city sub-center of Beijing. The construction of a coordinated development demonstration zone involving Beijing's Tongzhou district, Tianjin's Wuqing district and Hebei's Langfang city will also be sped up.

The province will advance the planning and construction of the Xiongan New Area to undertake the non-capital functions of Beijing, such as universities, scientific research institutes, medical and financial institutions and enterprises' headquarters. High-end and high-tech industries of new generation of information technology, modern biological science and biotechnology will be developed in the new area to build a national model for high-quality development.

Hebei will make thorough preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. The main body of venues for the event will be completed within the year of 2019, while supporting infrastructure, such as the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Intercity Railway and the Yanqing-Chongli Expressway, will be open to traffic by the end of this year.