Aerial photo taken on April 25, 2017 shows the scenery of Baiyangdian, one of the largest freshwater wetlands in north China, in Anxin County, north China's Hebei Province. China announced the plan for Xiongan New Area, an economic zone about 100 kilometers south of Beijing, on April 1, 2017. The new area will span Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin counties in Hebei Province, eventually covering 2,000 square kilometers. Hebei announced recently it would call for international bids to plan and design Xiongan New Area. Global companies are welcomed to bid with their ideas for a 30-square-km area at initial stage. (Xinhua/Mou Yu)

BEIJING, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The framework plan for Xiongan New Area was deliberated at a conference on the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region held in Beijing on Tuesday.

Xiongan New Area is a new economic zone near Beijing designed to integrate the capital with surrounding areas.

According to the plan, more domestic and foreign talent will be invited to participate in the creation of Xiongan, and investment, finance, tax and land policies will be formulated.

Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli presided over the conference, saying the work of relieving Beijing of functions nonessential to its role as the capital has progressed smoothly so far. A batch of major projects for the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in transportation, ecology and industry have shown good results.

China announced plans in April 2017 to establish Xiongan New Area about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing. It covers Hebei Province's Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin counties.

The country aims to "develop forward-looking plans and adopt high standards for building Xiongan New Area", according to the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October.