At the beginning of the year, General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired a symposium in Beijing to specifically hear reports on the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, requiring the region to consciously break the mindset of “minding only one's own plot of land,” to work together toward the goals of top-level design, and to give full play to the role of the coordination mechanism for economic cooperation and development in the Bohai Rim region. Because of the strong absorptive effect of Beijing and Tianjin on resources and capital, Hebei faces the awkward situation of “no grass grows under the big tree.” Compared with Beijing, which “cannot swallow it all,” and Tianjin, which “does not have enough to eat,” Hebei, which “has no food to eat,” has a more urgent demand for coordination among the three places. How can the old mindset of “minding only one's own plot of land” be broken to achieve “huddling together for warmth”? In the process of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration, what are the roles and positions of the three places? Liu Zhiyan, a researcher at the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Urban Economics Research Office, believes that industrial integration from the perspective of the industrial chain is the direction of integrated development.

The issue of deep collaboration among Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei has never been effectively resolved

After reform and opening up, the Pearl River Delta took advantage of its geographical proximity to Hong Kong and Macao, developed first, and caught the first express train of economic development. By the 1990s, with the establishment of the market economy system, because the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region was an area with a relatively good industrial foundation in China, a relatively long historical and cultural foundation, and relatively strong comprehensive strength, the Yangtze River Delta quickly formed the second economic growth pole.

In the more than 10 years of the new century, as China entered the middle stage of industrialization and urbanization, with the rise of the automobile and real estate industries and the rapid development of heavy and chemical industry, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi became major coal and electric power production bases, and Hebei became an important production base for steel and building materials. Tianjin became an important manufacturing base. At the same time, the unique charm of Beijing as the capital and the diversification of its industrial levels caused a large influx of migrant population. In 15 years, the population increased by more than 9 million, an average annual increase of more than 600,000, which promoted the rapid development of real estate investment and leasing and caused housing prices to rise to inflated levels. With the increase in residents' incomes and the entry of cars into families, traffic congestion became increasingly serious. Regional heavy and chemical industrial pollution, urban automobile pollution, and industrial pollution intertwined, and environmental quality dropped sharply. It can be said that large and medium-sized cities in the northern region still developed on their own and had not yet formed a complete industrial development system like those of the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta.

More than 30 years have passed since the concept of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration was proposed to its implementation. Why has there been no major progress? Because economic development needs to go through a stage, that is, from independent regional development to comprehensive coordinated development. The development of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei was not, as experts planned at the beginning, able to integrate quickly and quickly drive the development of the entire region. In the absence of complementary and win-win demands among the parties with vital interests at stake, the issue of deep collaboration among Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei has never been effectively resolved. Beijing and Tianjin, two megacities, became the main bodies, but there was a serious lack of intermediate levels. For example, cities with such development conditions as the provincial capital Shijiazhuang and the resource-based city Tangshan did not fully develop, and the development of small and medium-sized cities was likewise insufficient. Against this background, the issue of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cooperation was once again put on the agenda and elevated to the height of a national strategy, which has its historical inevitability.

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration will play a leading role in the development of the Bohai Rim region

Economic collaboration in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region or the coordinated development of the capital economic circle is a sign that China's urbanization has entered the middle and late stages, and a manifestation of the transition of central cities from point-like agglomeration to network dispersion. But at present, on the one hand, Beijing and Tianjin cannot well connect with the cities around them, their economic radiation effect is weak, their industrial driving capacity is poor, and the development gap among Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei is constantly widening. On the other hand, the development of small and medium-sized cities is insufficient, and it is difficult for them to undertake the industrial agglomeration and industrial scale formed by the overall transfer of industries from central cities, so their economic support for Beijing and Tianjin is relatively insufficient. Therefore, the scope of economic radiation of the central cities of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration is relatively small, and the radiation effect of surrounding cities that are more strongly radiated by the central cities on the cities further outside is even weaker. The economic diffusion effect of the entire urban agglomeration is slow, affecting overall competitiveness.

Beijing and Tianjin stand out alone and have relatively little pulling effect on the surrounding cities in Hebei Province. Compared with the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta, there is a lack of a complete urban system, a lack of second-tier cities with greater influence and third-tier cities with stronger strength, and the functional complementarity among cities is not strong, coordination is poor, and competition is greater than cooperation. This not only restricts the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region but also affects the overall development of the Bohai Rim and the northern urban belt. By comparison, the innate conditions of the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta are relatively good, the systems are complete, interaction among cities at different levels is strong, and functional matching is relatively good. For example, the Yangtze River Delta has not only an international metropolis like Shanghai but also regional central cities like Nanjing and Hangzhou, and cities such as Ningbo, Suzhou, and Wuxi have also developed fully.

From the overall perspective of the country, the original three major regional plates, including the Bohai Rim, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta, were three major economic growth poles. The Bohai Rim mainly drives the development of the northern economy, including the Northeast and Northwest; the Yangtze River Delta mainly drives the economic development of the Yangtze River Basin; and the Pearl River Delta is the engine of development in the southern region; thus forming three economic belts in the south, center, and north.

As the core of the Bohai Rim region, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei has two municipalities directly under the central government plus Hebei Province. From this perspective, integration plays a leading role in the economic development of the Bohai Rim and the north and in the economic development of the whole country. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei gradually evolved from earlier names such as “Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (North),” “Greater Beijing,” and “Capital Economic Circle.” Originally it mainly referred to the urban circle composed of Beijing and Tianjin and the central cities of Hebei Province around them, namely the two municipalities directly under the central government of Beijing and Tianjin and the eight cities of Langfang, Tangshan, Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Qinhuangdao, Cangzhou, Chengde, and Zhangjiakou in Hebei Province, referred to as the “2+8 urban system.” The economic strength of this region has continued to increase, infrastructure has become increasingly complete, and its influence has gradually expanded to the whole of Hebei Province and even to other cities around the Bohai Rim. The “Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei” region has in fact become the core of the Bohai Rim and the northern urban belt.

Adjusting the pattern of interests through the industrial chain is the key to integrated development

For the coordinated economic development of cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the exertion of complementary functions, the key is to properly solve how industries can carry out genuine collaborative cooperation. Any industry has three parts: upstream, midstream, and downstream, forming a complete industrial chain. The upstream is the industry's research and development process, that is, scientific and technological innovation; the midstream is the industrialization stage, the manufacturing process; and the downstream includes sales, logistics, and so on. Beijing's talent advantage cannot be matched by any other city in the country. Especially in research and development of some cutting-edge high-end technologies, Beijing is a talent gathering place. In the process of industrial integration, Beijing should use its advantage of strong scientific research strength to focus on high-tech research and development. Hebei has the characteristics of vast territory and relatively abundant human resources. It can use these advantages to carry out industrialized production and transform Beijing's research and development results into products. Tianjin should use the locational advantage of a port city to focus on developing international trade, build a trade and logistics center, and at the same time develop some high-end strategic emerging industries.

Beijing is the national capital, and Tianjin is to be built into the economic center of the north. Obviously, they are important circulation centers and hubs for the flow of people, logistics, and capital in the country, and will inevitably absorb the resources of surrounding areas and restrict their development. Figuratively speaking, “no grass grows under the big tree.” We want to promote the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, not to make them develop in a homogeneous and flat manner, but to develop in a differentiated and complementary manner, and to give play to their respective advantages and develop distinctive industries.

Industrial integration from the perspective of the industrial chain is the direction of integrated development. If industries are well coordinated, the pattern of interests will also be basically adjusted. The formation of the industrial chain can be carried out through market operations with enterprises as the main body, rather than using administrative orders to create barriers to circulation. If the industrial problem is solved well, the tax source problem will also be readily solved. The core of the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei is industrial integration through the exertion of the respective advantages of the three places.