All eyes on the future as Beijing Daxing looks to become innovation zone

The Beijing Daxing International Airport Economic Zone launched an innovation competition to explore cities of the future as it aspires to become a world-class “aerotropolis” — an urban area centered around an airport — over the next few decades.

The “Future City” Explorer Global Innovation Competition began on May 27 and will last until late August.

Centering around Beijing Daxing International Airport, the BDIAEZ in Beijing’s Daxing district will serve as an experimental field and provide support for top contestants, advancing their projects’ industrialization and launches, the organizer said.

In addition to prizes, they will be recommended to investors and receive guidance from industry leaders and renowned academics, the organizer added.

The airport handled a total of 25.05 million passenger trips as well as more than 185,900 metric tons of cargo and mail in 2021, according to official data.

Since the airport opened in 2019, a total of 39 airlines have been stationed there, with 265 air routes connecting to 178 destinations worldwide.

The competition is part of events held by the BDIAEZ recently as it is calling for plans and designs for the development of the International C&E and Consumption Hub. The project is aimed at promoting convention and exhibition businesses, as well as spurring consumption.

The BDIAEZ’s core area covers about 150 square kilometers, comprising 50 sq km in Beijing and the rest in the city’s neighboring Hebei province. The International C&E and Consumption Hub will be positioned at the eastern area of the Beijing section.

The State Council approved the establishment of the economic zone in 2016, with the strategic goals of developing it into a function-carrier area for international exchange, a leading area for national aviation technology, and a demonstration area for the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province, according to the administrative committee.

The BDIAEZ includes a pilot free trade zone and a comprehensive bonded zone in terms of function.

The airport-based free trade zone is the only one of its kind in China that enjoys two regions’ favorable policies at the same time.

Meanwhile, the bonded zone, which became operational in April, is a major project to expand international cooperation and push forward the integrated development of Beijing and Hebei.

As the first cross-provincial bonded zone in China, it has managed and operated with “unified planning, standards, control and assessment”, local officials said.

By taking advantage of the airport and preferential policies of functional zones, the BDIAEZ is building a center where global resources are gathered as well as a new driving force for regional economic growth.

The BDIAEZ’s comprehensive industrial pattern has taken shape, with the life and health industry as the lead, high-end services and aviation security as the foundation, as well as new-generation information technologies and advanced equipment as the reserve.

Six major industrial parks have been launched, including an innovation service center of the free trade zone, a medical equipment intelligent manufacturing park, a biomedical incubator and an international business complex.

By September, the free trade zone was home to 2,198 market entities including 34 foreign-funded companies. Key projects in the zone’s innovation service center, such as Aige Stem Cell and Sinogenetic, have opened for business.

Wang Youguo, secretary of the Daxing district committee of the Communist Party of China, said at a news conference in April that Daxing is forging ahead at a fast pace. Investing in Daxing is investing in the future of China and the world, he added.

Qualified enterprises and talents in the zone are being offered preferential access to loans, housing and education, local officials said.

The BDIAEZ is the only area in Beijing that adopts favorable policies of the free trade zone and Zhongguancun Science Park, a high-tech demonstration zone in the capital, while following the city’s strategies for opening up its services sector.

The BDIAEZ administrative committee now has 80 administrative rights, with 49 delegated from the Daxing district government and 31 from municipal authorities.

Marked progress has been made in creating a business-friendly environment with approval procedures streamlined and services optimized.

The BDIAEZ also provides one-on-one aid to enterprises with difficulties, while establishing an online service platform to enhance the efficiency of approvals.

The economic zone plans to sign 20 megaprojects and put six of them into production this year, according to the administrative committee.

It will continue to move forward with reforms, cultivate export-oriented industries and help ensure the airport’s smooth operation.

By 2035, a modern, smart and eco-friendly economic zone will have been built. It will play a vital role in promoting regional high-quality development, according to the zone’s development plan.

Beijing Daxing International Airport is expected to become an international aviation hub by that point, with an annual passenger throughput of up to 100 million.

The "Future City" Explorer Global Innovation Competition is now open for registration.

Please click on the following link to sign up: https://www.wenjuan.com/s/YRN32a8/