During a press conference held on the sidelines of the third session of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) on Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced that China will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit this autumn in the northern city of Tianjin.
Leaders will get together at the SCO summit in Tianjin to reflect on the SCO’s accomplishments, plan the future and build consensus for cooperation.
As one of the major cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development strategy, Tianjin serves as a key economic, industrial and logistical hub in the region, while also driving policy reforms and cultural integration.
In 2024, Tianjin has taken solid progress in high-quality development, and forged ahead in building itself into a modern metropolis.
In early 2014, China initiated a key strategy to coordinate the development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei – a regional city cluster referred to as “Jing-Jin-Ji.”
After over a decade of development, the region has made remarkable progress in coordinated development across economic, ecological and social sectors. In 2024, the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) reached 11.5 trillion yuan (about $1.6 trillion), almost doubling that of 2013.
In particular, Tianjin has accelerated collaborative innovation and industrial collaboration, and promotes infrastructure connectivity among the three regions.
As the largest automobile import and export hub in northern China, Tianjin Port operates over 30 roll-on/roll-off shipping routes to markets such as Europe, the Middle East and South America.
The port has been enhancing its services to automobile enterprises in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and coordinating with international shipping companies to facilitate their transportation.
Meanwhile, the city fully leverages its advantages in location, ports, industries, science and education, and urban and rural space to relieve Beijing of non-essential functions related to its status as the nation’s capital and create favorable conditions for enterprises to develop in Tianjin.
In 2023, Tianjin successfully attracted and implemented 331 collaborative projects from Beijing through market-oriented mechanisms, with a total investment of 183.25 billion yuan.
The city is making efforts to further promote regional integration, aiming to enhance Tianjin’s execution and responsibility, Chen Min’er, secretary of the Communist Party of China Tianjin Municipal Committee, said at an open event held by Tianjin delegation during the third session of the 14th NPC.
The city has focused on the promotion of scientific and technological innovation, industrial renewal, urban renewal, the revitalization of existing assets and other areas to actively develop new quality productive forces.
In 2024, the city’s GDP grew by 5.1 percent, and 12 key industrial chains such as artificial intelligence, biomedicine and new energy continued to grow.
In January, the State Council has approved a national territorial spatial plan for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, for the 2021-2035 period. As part of this plan, Tianjin has been tasked with strengthening the construction of the country’s northern international shipping core area and enhancing its role as a gateway for further opening up.
In recent years, Tianjin has been committed to creating a first-class business environment. The city has organized comprehensive enterprise liaison service activities, addressing challenges and resolving issues for private enterprises through face-to-face interactions.
By relying on both national and the city’s local enterprise service platforms, over 18,000 issues faced by private enterprises have been resolved.
The city also invigorates the vitality of private enterprises through continuously deepening reforms and optimizing services.
Last year, the added value of Tianjin’s private economy grew by 6.5 percent, and private investment increased by 7.6 percent. Private enterprises contributed 45.8 percent of the city’s tax revenue, and they accounted for 47.2 percent of the city’s total foreign trade exports.
“In further deepening reform and opening up, we will deepen reform to stimulate the endogenous motivation and innovation vitality of various business entities, continue to optimize the business environment, and implement policies and measures to support the development of the private economy,” Chen said.