After being laid aside for a decade， the Jing-Jin-Ji development plan， which proposes fusing the areas of Beijing， Tianjin and Hebei Province， has resurfaced under the new moniker of the Capital Economic Circle. In February， President Xi Jinping called for the coordination and integration of the economic zone surrounding Beijing， and noted the need for balancing development， the environment， population and resources， thus signaling that planning will be officially being put on the fast track.
　　The planned area encompasses Beijing， Tianjin and part of Hebei Province in north China， a cluster inhabited by over 100 million people， three times as many as that of the Tokyo Megalopolis. The area boasts a combined GDP of over 6 trillion yuan （$980 billion） and covers an area of 216，000 square km.
　　The economic circle represents an answer to the “urban diseases” currently afflicting Beijing， such as traffic jams and air pollution. With a population of more than 20 million， the city is the political， economic and cultural center of China. Furthermore， it has the largest number of famous universities， well-established hospitals and the largest hi-tech industrial center.
　　“Beijing should stop trying to be the champion in every aspect， and transfer some resources to its neighbors，” said Yang Weimin， deputy head of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs， which is affiliated to the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
　　As President Xi pointed out， Beijing ought to retain its status as the political， cultural and diplomacy hub of China， and at the same time， move some non-essential industrial sectors like high-polluting manufacturing outside the city gradually. Beyond that， the excessive concentration of financial， medical and education resources should also be alleviated. For example， every year， numerous people flock to Beijing for better medical treatment， which adds to the pressure on the city’s traffic management and social security systems.
　　 Distinctions
　　The integration of the Jing-Jin-Ji region has been deemed as the first economic circle in north China， and the third engine to drive economic growth following on the heels of the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta， in south and east China respectively.
　　Compared to the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta， the Jing-Jin-Ji urban agglomeration is less open to the outside world. In 2012， export accounted for 15.12 percent of its gross domestic product （GDP）， much lower than the 60.44 percent in the Yangtze River Delta and the 63.37 percent in the Pearl River Delta. 　　The industrial cluster in the Pearl River Delta took shape in response to the country’s call for reform and opening up during the 1980s， while the Yangtze River Delta began to mold its own industrial structure in the 1990s， when local governments were assigned with more power and became increasingly connected to the market. The formation of the Jing-Jin-Ji urban agglomeration has been largely fueled by government planning with strong administrative monopoly.
　　Li Tie， Director General of the China Center for Urban Development of the National Development and Reform Commission， claimed the economic circle was uniquely threatened by a number of factors.
　　Hebei Province cannot match Beijing and Tianjin and is at a relatively disadvantageous place in terms of administrative rank. In addition， in coordinating the development of the Jing-Jin-Ji region， proposals akin to the Bohai Economic Rim have been put forward to ensure the pivotal position of Beijing in the process， further exacerbating the imbalances in allocating resources and opportunities.
　　The three members of the Jing-Jin-Ji region are also quite differentiated from each other， according to Li. The supreme administrative power Beijing has been endowed with has helped it evolve into a hub for the service industry， while Tianjin still sticks to a path of industrial development. Hebei Province， dwarfed by Beijing’s glory， is not only unable to profit from its geographic advantages， but is also subject to losing manpower resources to the capital. The dilemma that Hebei faces has forced it to seek growth from local resources like iron and steel in the past.
　　Li said that since almost all the cities concerned hope to attract quality resources rather than high-polluting and labor-intensive industries from Beijing， competition has been intensifying recently. As a consequence， it’s difficult to balance distribution of benefits and foster resource complementation among cities on the periphery of Beijing.


　　He went on to explain that due to the large gap in per-capita fiscal revenue， income and infrastructure， it’s almost impossible to compare Tianjin or Hebei hukou， or permanent residency permit， with that of Beijing.
　　Quality economic and social resources flow into Beijing all the time owing to the city offering the best level of public welfare in the country.
　　At present， as hordes of young workers and college graduates continue to flood into Beijing， a cluster of satellite towns have come into being in its vicinity， such as Tongzhou and Changping districts. Since these small towns don’t have independent economic functions， local residents have to commute for hours to get to offices downtown， which has severely aggravated urban afflictions such as traffic gridlock. To reduce the population， the city should cut down the economic and administrative functions it wields. 　　Zhou Benshun， Secretary of the Communist Party of China Hebei Provincial Committee， said that Hebei would be the largest beneficiary of the Capital Economic Circle， and should exploit all opportunities available to become a new economic growth center.
　　For years， Hebei has gotten used to viewing itself as a vegetable basket for， or an affiliate to， Beijing and because of this， it hasn’t set about formulating a long-term practical and sustainable development strategy and has gradually lost its edge as a coastal province. Now， it should be able to make a difference.
　　As Zhou noted， Hebei needs to serve the general benefit of the Jing-Jin-Ji area and at the same time， forge its own competitive edge by taking some functions， industries and resource factors from Beijing. “The rising of Hebei in the drive will exert a far-reaching effect on its future development，” he said.
　　On the other side， Song Limin， deputy chief of the Hebei Provincial Development and Reform Commission， argued that Hebei would not bring in outdated production capacity from the capital. “The province will only introduce industries which have already had a solid industrial foundation and keep pace with national industrial policies. It is an process of evolution and progress，” said Song.
　　Recently， Xu Heyi， Chairman of BAIC Group， a Beijing-based automobile giant， suggested that the company had planned to move its manufacturing facilities to Huanghua， Hebei， while gearing its Beijing-based headquarters toward technological innovation， sales services and high-end car production.
　　Yet， things don’t always go on as planned. Like what happened during the drafting of the Yangtze River Delta development plan， most neighboring cities now elbow to introduce highyield industries from Beijing， such as real estate programs， which hinders the complementary resource allocation in the region and， in turn， intensifies competition.
　　 Integration
　　In addition to industrial coordination， efforts should be made in building an efficient traffic network to get Beijing， Tianjin and the cities in Hebei fully connected， a move which will jump-start the integration in days to come.
　　It’s expected that by the year 2020， the Jing-Jin-Ji traffic network will comprise 9，500-km railways and 9，000-km expressways， keeping travel times between any major cities in the regions under one hour by train or three hours by car.
　　According to the Outline of Beijing Traffic Development （2004-30）， Beijing is committed to building a large outer ring road running 940 km and high-speed channels in six directions to link it to adjacent areas. So far， roughly half of the outer ring road has been completed， leaving 490 km still under construction. 　　Tianjin has also gotten its teeth into weaving its own traffic grid， including Binshi Expressway，Jingtai Expressway， Jingqin Expressway， the first phase of Tanglang Expressway， the second phase of Tangcheng Expressway and Jishan Expressway， ensuring that there are three highspeed channels between the cities of Beijing， Tianjin and Shijiazhuang.
　　Teaming up with Beijing， Hebei will concentrate on building the large outer ring road in order to relieve the capital’s inward and outward traffic pressures， because 850 km of the 940 km ring road lies in the territory of Hebei， linking the Jingzhang， Jingshen， Jinghu， Jingtai， Daguang and Jingzhu expressways.
　　As the Central Government reiterated， integrating regional prevention and control of air pollution as well as infrastructure construction should top the agenda in molding the Jing-Jin-Ji economic circle.
　　The crux lies in the elimination of overcapacity. Among the three major city agglomerations， the Jing-Jin-Ji circle is lagging far behind in air quality with 69 percent days in 2013 failing to reach the national airquality standard. In the past years， Beijing witnessed a decline in coal consumption， Tianjin held steady while Hebei swallowed the largest share of coal burning， which can be as high as 80 percent of the total volume the region consumed. The geographical proximity of the three areas means the air quality in Beijing is substantially affected by Hebei’s resolution in industrial restructuring and capacity reduction.
　　As， Yin Guangping， Deputy Director of the Hebei Environmental Protection Bureau， suggested Hebei phase out a production capacity of 60 million tons in iron and steel， 61 tons in cement， and 40 million tons in coal， and help 123 heavy- pollution enterprises transform production mode or move them elsewhere by 2017.
　　Some experts insist that cutting production capacity bode ill for GDP growth， fiscal revenue and employment. In 2012， Hebei scored high by ranking sixth in GDP nationwide， underlying which are the mushrooming heavy chemical industry and mounting energy consumption. Despite this， the province has still opted to crack a tough nut.
　　“The Jing-Jin-Ji region is most afflicted by air pollution， with Hebei taking the most blame. As far as it’s concerned， excessive emissions are the prime culprit，” said Yin， who appealed for restructuring energy consumption and steering away from the existing energy-intensive growth mode in Hebei.
　　On the other hand， progress still needs to be made in the joint prevention and control mechanism. “Since industrial structure and pollutant emission are quite divergent in different parts of the region， it’s hard to promote a universal standard for the elimination of outdated capacity，” said Zhuang Zhidong， Deputy Director of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau.
　　In 2012， major sources of air pollution in Beijing， Tianjin and Hebei were nitric oxide generated by motor vehicles， sulfur dioxide discharged by coal burning， and industrial manufacturing， respectively. In many ways， the joint prevention and control mechanism can be expensive and costly.
　　Song Guojun， professor on environmental policies and planning from Renmin University of China based in Beijing， advocated that a special institution be established to take charge of drawing up plans， holding discussions， sharing and disclosing information. He stressed “the body needs to be independent， efficient and impartial.” n