[Photo by Zhang Chengliang for China Daily]

Despite the impact of COVID-19, the Beijing Daxing Airport City achieved a strong economic performance with flying colors in 2022.

Government data show that the fixed asset investment in the zone amounted to 17.11 billion yuan ($2.49 billion) last year, and a series of major investment projects have been drawn to the zone, showing its growing appeal among investors.

Among them, SF Express, a major Chinese courier express service provider, unveiled its smart logistics North China headquarters in late November.

The project cost some 1 billion yuan and covers nearly 200,000 square meters in floor space. Adjacent to Beijing Daxing International Airport, the headquarters aims to create a smart logistics industry platform that highlights air-land multimodal freight transportation as its core business and is backed by innovative technologies by SF Express.

While a batch of businesses including e-commerce company JD, Shanghai Pharma and financial service provider Guangdong Nanyang (Group) broke the ground for their investments in the zone, five groups, including Beijing Cell Therapy and a cell therapy research center, saw their new investment projects start operation.

More businesses from the convention and exhibition industry are expected to come to the zone, as the International C&E and Consumption Hub Idea Competition was held in 2022, soliciting top-notch designs and plans from around the world. The event contributed to the decision-makers' vision of what the zone will be like.

The zone's administrative committee also completed a branding campaign last year, establishing a brand image as an international airport city that could be "where new possibilities take of ". The visual identification of Beijing Daxing Airport City was released in March.

Contributing factors

Behind the ambition of becoming a global influential and dynamic airport city are the zone's high-standard policies and regulations that provide the guarantee for its development, as well as its innovative work mechanisms, well-planned infrastructure, efficient administrative services and an influx of projects and talent.

The local authorities have rolled out policies to boost the zone's high-quality development from the top level.

The zone continues to optimize its business environment. Currently, all of the administrative applications for which the upper-level authorities delegated power to the zone can be handled online. That resulted in improved efficiency in administrative services.

For instance, JD acquired three certificates required for its project construction within one day, and it also took just one day for the SF Express smart logistics headquarters to go through the project acceptance procedures online. Such cases proved that the zone is at the forefront of the city in terms of work efficiency, according to the zone's administrative committee.

The business-friendly climate has drawn experts and specialists to start their businesses in the zone and helps to foster local talent.

Four experts were recognized as industry leaders and 23 young professionals were awarded for their excellence in their respective fields.

When it comes to specific measures, an innovative practice of the digital service for of shore trade originating from the zone was promoted across Beijing.

The zone provides a shining example for coordinated regional development. Under the support of the Civil Aviation Administration, the Daxing airport resumed operations of international air freight lines and the first shipment of imports went through customs clearance into the comprehensive bonded zone in the BDAC last year.

To better serve airlines, more shuttle bus services were added to connect the airport with other parts of Beijing.

New spaces

To cater to more investment projects, the zone has prepared plenty of land resources.

Among those that have settled in the zone, a free trade zone innovation service center in the BDAC has been recognized as a national base for industry-academia-research cooperation in innovation.

The International Aviation Headquarters Park in the zone succeeded in going public and created a new record of "BDAC pace" for its construction.

The design for the zone's Central Park phase one won the first international SITES gold-level pre-certification in Beijing, and an energy project in the BDAC comprehensive bonded zone became the first nationally certified in the airport economic zone that is close to zero energy consumption.

The Sustainable SITES Initiative is an authoritative international landscape certification system for sustainable land design and development, providing a set of comprehensive, voluntary guidelines together with a rating system that assesses the sustainable design, construction and maintenance of landscapes. It encourages the use of eco-friendly property development methods and the incorporation of project planning and design into the environment, and values the ecological preservation and restoration.

After the success story in 2022, the zone will open a new chapter in the new era, said an official from its administrative committee. "In 2023, we will focus on high-quality development, continue innovation, opening-up and sustainable development to accelerate the construction of the world-class airport city," the official said.

International life health community

Located in the western area of the airport economic zone, the international health community embraces the Daqing-Guangzhou Highway to the west, the 106 National Highway to the east, Yufa Road to the north and Yongding River to the south.

The community is planned to cover 2.7 square kilometers and attract investment to such areas as public hospitals, international medical care and medical research. It focuses on the life health industry, developing the biological economy and health products and services and aiming to create a world-class life health industry highland and an international research and innovation center.

POLICIES & INCENTIVES

The Beijing Daxing Airport City is an important part of the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening Up the Service Sector

・ The policies on the pilot free trade zone

・ The policies on the national comprehensive demonstration zone of opening-up expansion in the service industry

・ The policies on Beijing Daxing Airport City's comprehensive bonded zone

・ The policies from Zhongguancun on technology innovation

Daxing "1+N" Industrial Policies

・ Guidance on Promoting the Industrial Development of Daxing District

・ Measures for High-level Talents Service in Daxing District

・ Daxing District "New Gate" Leading Talents and Team Support Measures

・ Interim Measures of Daxing District for Promoting the Development of High-end Industries

・ Interim Measures of Daxing District for Promoting the Development of the Financial Industry

・ Interim Measures of Daxing District for Promoting the Development of the Medical and Health Industry

Industrial Policies of Beijing Daxing Airport City (Pilot Free Trade Zone)

・ Several Policies of the Airport Economic Zone (Pilot Free Trade Zone) to Support Industrial Development

・ Interim Measures of the Airport Economic Zone (Pilot Free Trade Zone) on Promoting the Development of the Pharmaceutical and Health Industry

・ Interim Measures of the Airport Economic Zone (Pilot Free Trade Zone) on Financial Support for the Development of the Airport Industry

Beijing Daxing Airport City, which is in a prime location in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, is leveraging its advantages in policy support to attract high-quality investment.

The zone is centered around Beijing Daxing International Airport, which is 45 kilometers from downtown Beijing to the north, 55 km from Xiong'an New Area in Hebei province to the southwest and 80 km from Tianjin to the southeast.

The BDAC is overlaid with a pilot free trade zone and a comprehensive bonded zone, which adds appeal to the zone.

Integrated into the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the BDAC offers favorable FTZ policies to local businesses. As a pilot area for national system innovation, the FTZ focuses on the innovation in policy mechanism and financial services, trade facilitation and business environment optimization, achieving more system innovations that have an edge in worldwide competition.

As a core part of the free trade zone, the comprehensive bonded zone is a special area under customs supervision. It focuses on support for such sectors as port functions, logistics services, and export-oriented processing businesses that put an emphasis on research and development, and bonded service supply, in a bid to serve the construction of the airport hub as well as promoting the development of industries in the BDAC.

In addition, the BDAC is a key part of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening Up the Service Sector, providing more policy perks to investors and businesspeople.

As for tech companies and other businesses as well as research institutions, the BDAC is a favorable destination as it has integrated preferential policies on technological innovation from Zhongguancun, Beijing's high-tech business hub.

Commercial development

The commercial development complex revolves around convention, exhibition and consumption. The Beijing Daxing International Convention and Exhibition Center is located at the heart of Lixian area in the airport economic zone.

The International Consumption Hub aims to become an airport-based international consumption hub, providing immersive consumer experiences combining tariff exemption, functions and scenes.

The consumption hub is set to gather high-end international consumption resources and take the lead in the world for shopping. Its spatial layout pattern features the integration of an urban complex, business services and a commercial exhibition center.

Comprehensive bonded zone

The Beijing Daxing International Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone covers 4.35 square kilometers. Of the area, 3.51 sq km is for bonded zone services — of which, Beijing and Hebei each take up half — and 0.83 sq km is for port area functions.

The bonded zone works to allocate innovation resources and talent from around the world in a bid to spur growth of local industries in the airport economic zone.

The goal of the bonded zone is to create an internationally influential and competitive center for logistics, R&D and design, testing and maintenance, sales, processing and manufacturing.

International aviation community

The International Aviation Community lies in the Lixian area of the airport economic zone and to the northeast of Beijing Daxing International Airport. With a planned area of 22,000 square kilometers, the community mainly attracts aviation-related businesses and puts an emphasis on developing such sectors as infrastructure and facilities in support of airport development, airlines and supportive services.

In pursuit of creating an eco-friendly town and respecting culture and humanistic philosophy, the aviation community is designed to strike the balance between industry and life. It will improve urban operation management, promote the sound modern utilization of traditional dwellings and preserve the city's heritage sites.