Aerial photo taken on March 31, 2021 shows the Beijing-Xiong'an expressway under construction in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. The Xiong'an new area has begun its large-scale development and construction, with more than 100,000 constructors working on over 120 major projects in the area. The "city of the future" is greeting a brand new look day by day. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)
Infrastructure construction is also proceeding smoothly at Xiong'an's start-up area, which will be part of the Xiong'an city proper. Designed to take over Beijing's functions nonessential to its role as the national capital, the start-up area will serve as a new home for Beijing's colleges, hospitals, business headquarters, and financial and public institutions.
INNOVATION HIGHLAND
Since its inception, Xiong'an has been designed to become an intelligent city featuring high-tech and innovation as well as a magnet for global talented people.
As of February, more than 3,700 enterprises had registered in Xiong'an, of which more than 2,000 firms are in fields of scientific research, software development, information technology and technological services, according to official data.
Leading Chinese tech firms such as Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu are also on the list, as the tech giants are tapping into the area's great potential in developing frontier technologies including autonomous driving, cloud computing, blockchain and big data.
Eye Cool, a company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI), moved its headquarters from Beijing to Xiong'an in 2018, in view of the area's ideal environment for tech start-ups.
"Xiong'an has been billed as the 'city of innovation' since its establishment, and we couldn't wait to grab the opportunities it brought," said Wang Shuqi, the company's marketing director. "We're honored to have grown alongside Xiong'an's development."
Wang said her company's AI-based facial recognition technology has been used in industrial parks, railway stations, service centers and schools in Xiong'an for security purposes and prevention and control of COVID-19.
