China’s president is not content with putting his theoretical stamp on the Communist party with the addition of “Xi Jinping Thought” to the party’s constitution. He also wants to leave a physical legacy that will outshine urban developments associated with Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese leader who brought market reforms to China.
But in the villages of Rongcheng county — one of the three rural counties in Hebei, along with Xiong and Anxin, that comprise Beijing’s newly designated Xiongan New Area — it looks as though Mr Xi’s vision of a “high-level socialist modern city” to rival Shenzhen or Shanghai is a long way off.
It is a grand plan that is scheduled to be implemented in phases. Once complete, it would cover an area of 1,770 sq km, more than twice the area of New York City, although its current population is only about 1m. Morgan Stanley estimates Xiongan New Area will mobilise up to Rmb2.4tn ($379bn) in investment over the next 20 years.