At the half-year work meeting of Xiong'an New Area in July 2026, 'capability enhancement' was the central theme. The meeting explicitly defined GDP volume, an advanced industrial structure, and the number of corporate headquarters as direct indicators of economic strength, placing them within the framework of boosting the capacity to undertake and relocate functions. The inclusion of GDP signals that Xiong'an now measures itself against mature cities; the advanced industrial structure emphasizes sectors like aerospace information, artificial intelligence, and new materials while avoiding low-end industries; and the number of corporate headquarters serves as a direct metric for relocation success, with central enterprises and their subsidiaries expected to reshape the industrial ecosystem.
The meeting established for the first time the principle of 'closely integrating investment in things with investment in people,' as the basis for improving public services and enhancing livelihood capability. Prior large-scale infrastructure investment was 'in things'; now 'in people' is elevated to equal importance. Specific directions include: building an 'all-age friendly' city with quality public services; enhancing talent attraction measured by total population, density, and structure; and boosting cultural influence through enriched utilization of culture, sports, tourism, and historical heritage.
The meeting also introduced the concept of integrated development of culture, tourism, sports, commerce, and exhibitions, emphasizing the fusion of these five sectors to address the common challenge of new cities lacking vitality. Related activities are already underway: the 2026 China Table Tennis Super League regular season second stop will take place at Xiong'an Sports Center from July 29 to August 1, while the China-Germany U16 youth football friendly match will be held in Xiong'an for the first time from August 6 to 10.
Regarding reform and opening-up capability, the meeting for the first time proposed enhancing international influence measured by international exchanges and the scale and grade of foreign investment and foreign trade. Previously, internationalization efforts focused on platform construction and institutional opening; now foreign investment and trade scale become concrete benchmarks. On July 6, Xiong'an joined the Global Digital Economy City Alliance at the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference Xiong'an Forum, becoming the fifth Chinese member city. In February this year, Xiong'an High-tech Zone was upgraded to a national-level high-tech zone.