After SOEs, private sector makes a beeline for Xiongan

A fisherman from Anxin county tries to catch fish at the lake of Baiyangdian with help from cormorants. [Photo by Leo Chan/For China Daily]

The new area, the third national special economic zone after the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Shanghai Pudong New Area, is of national significance and "crucial for the millennium to come", according to the central government.

"I believe the new area will bring a lot of opportunities that would be comparable to that of neighboring Beijing and Tianjin," said Yang Hejun, head of Anxin Mingdao Start-ups Service Co Ltd, a startup incubator.

The enterprise has enrolled about 20 candidates, including returnees and locals, for training in starting a new business.

Mingdao was established last year to help develop new businesses by giving them office space and related services, including advice on business and technology. It has set up 70 offices for use by startups.

Given the high chance for a rise in the number of innovative startups now, supportive policies could lead to the incubator's expansion, Yang said.

Not many Anxin natives working outside appear to have returned to their hometown like Qu had done in less than two weeks after the big announcement on April 1, he said. "But I've heard that many successful entrepreneurs in big cities like Beijing are planning to return."

Niu Gensheng, 64, a native of Rongcheng county, one of the three countries included in the Xiongan New Area, told Hebei Daily that he had advised his son, who works in Beijing, to return home in the near future.

According to Yang, most of the locals now based elsewhere are waiting for further clarity on policies and development plans for the new area. Such policies and plans are being drafted.

Yang said all those keen to set up startups, including himself, should be prudent, and choose only those business fields that are in accordance with the policies of the planned new area.

Xinhua News Agency quoted Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli as saying that Xiongan should promote innovation, attract high-tech enterprises and avoid becoming an industrial hub led by traditional industries.

The proposed emphasis appears to have inspired some of the established local entrepreneurs to adapt their development strategies accordingly.

Xu Linghua, chairman of Hebei Taidou Cable Group Co Ltd, said he has started combining his old business with innovation. Taidou Cable is a local private company engaged in the making of cables in Xiongxian, the third county included in the new area.

"My cable-making factories might adapt to the overall planning of the new area," Xu said, adding that he is keen to establish an online platform to exhibit and sell cable products across China.

"Even if my factories get eliminated (as part of the area development), internet-led businesses might be welcome, because cables will be still needed in the development of Xiongan," he said. "They will be needed in buildings and transportation facilities such as subway train systems," Xu said.