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MayFirst. The new mission of the capital development
With the socialism with Chinese characteristics entering a new era, the development of the capital has entered a new stage. As the capital of a great socialist motherland, Beijing has always been closely linked with the mission of the party and the country. General Secretary Xi Jinping visited and inspected Beijing twice and delivered an important speech. He personally presided over the convening of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee to hear reports on the preparation of Beijing's overall urban planning and made a series of important instructions for the work of the capital. In the new era, the new mission for the development of the capital is to follow the historical process of achieving the goals of the “two hundred years” and the Chinese nation’s great rejuvenation of the Chinese dream, building the capital of the great socialist motherland and the capital of the great nation that is moving towards the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the world-class harmony and livability capital.
“What kind of capital should be built and how to build a capital” is a major issue facing all generations and countries. Judging from the long history, the Chinese nation has been splendidly quintessential for five thousand years, and all the dynasties have devoted great efforts to the construction of the capital. Looking at the world today, whether it is developed countries, such as the British capital London, or developing countries, such as India's capital New Delhi, have experienced or are facing urban governance problems such as excessive population, traffic congestion, high housing prices, and deterioration of the ecological environment. With the globalization of the economy, in the information age, the competition between countries and regions has become more and more concentrated in the competition between big cities and megacities with certain international influence, especially capital and capital cities. The wrestle of the city group is the most critical.
The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core has been far-sighted, has a thorough understanding of the situation, accurately grasped the two international and domestic situations. Based on the mission of national rejuvenation, he has looked at the millennium plan and clearly defined the strategic positioning of the “four centers” of the capital cities. We understand that the political center is the fundamental and core of the capital of big country; the cultural center is a space carrier that inherits Chinese civilization and reflects the soft power of the country and provides support for the political center; the international exchange center is the basic function of the capital of large country and also the concentration of international influence. Innovation Center is the inevitable requirement to follow the development of the trend of the times, and it is also the economic support of the capital of big countries. The functional orientation of the "four centers" of major capitals not only indicates the direction for the development of China's capital in the new era, but also provides Chinese wisdom and China programs for capital construction and development in various countries around the world.
As a capital city, Beijing has directional and representative work in all aspects. Therefore, the development of the capital must bear in mind major political responsibilities, always adhere to the “four ideologies”, and resolutely safeguard the core position of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee; it must implement the people-centered development concept and always uphold the first standards of good. Efforts should be made to strengthen the function building of the "four centers" and improve the "four services" level; they must be oriented to the entire country, look to the world, and give play to leading, exemplary, and demonstration functions. This is the right meaning of the development of the capital in the new era and the expectations and demands of the Party Central Committee and the people of the whole country.
Second, the new direction of the development of the capital
To shoulder the new mission of capital development and plan to build a capital with great Chinese characteristics, we should understand and grasp the new orientation of capital development in the realization of the "two hundred years" goal and the Chinese nation's great rejuvenation of the Chinese dream. We should coordinate international development. The two overall situations of the country obey and serve the needs of the party and the country’s undertakings and satisfy the people’s new hope for a better life.
After more than 60 years of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, especially the 40 years of reform and opening up, Beijing’s ancient capital has become a modern international metropolis, but there have also been “big city diseases” such as excessive population expansion, environmental deterioration, and traffic congestion. The super-city development model has not been able to adapt to the era demands of the rise of major powers and national rejuvenation, and it does not match the functional orientation of the major capitals with Chinese characteristics, and does not match the long-term goals of a world-class harmonious and livable capital. This is the main issue facing the development of the capital in the new era. To solve this problem, we must properly handle the relationship between "capital" and "city."
As the capital of big countries, Beijing’s urban development must obey and serve the functions of the “four centers,” and must lay out and promote the development of the “city” around realizing the functions of “the capital”. It must closely focus on upgrading the functions of major capitals, and ensure that the capacity for service support is in line with the strategic positioning of the city. The population, resources, and environment are coordinated with the strategic positioning of the city. The urban layout is in line with the strategic positioning of the city, and a world-class harmonious and livable capital must be built.
As the capital of major countries, Beijing must implement "four services" throughout its work. We must do a good job in the service guarantee of the political center, support the government affairs activities of the country, and create an excellent and safe political environment for the nation’s revival. We must take the cultivation and practice of the core values of socialism as the guide and do a good job in the national cultural center. Beijing is a historical and cultural city and it should play a central role in inheriting and promoting the fine culture of the Chinese nation. The capital of big countries must also be the center of international communication. With the reform and construction of a global governance system, the capital of big countries will surely become an international political center. We must proactively plan and strengthen the facilities and capacity building of international exchange centers, establish normalized service guarantee mechanisms for state affairs, continuously improve the degree of city internationalization, and better serve the overall diplomatic situation of the Party and the country. Innovation is the trend of the development of the times. It is an advantage of Beijing's resource endowments and an inevitable requirement of Beijing's economic and social development. It is necessary to build a science and technology innovation center with global influence, seize the high ground of global science and technology in the field of basic research and strategic high technology, and play a leading role in the national innovation and development.
As the capital of big countries, Beijing's urban development must firmly establish new development concepts, promote high-quality development, optimize industrial structure, strengthen innovation and development, and build a modern economic system. To improve the quality of urban construction, especially infrastructure construction, form a functional system that is moderately advanced, connected, and able to meet future needs, create a green, comfortable and convenient living environment, and promote the modernization of super-large urban governance systems and governance capabilities.
Third, the new journey of the capital's development
Standing at a new historical starting point, the development of the capital has opened up a new journey. At present, the development of the capital should speed up the transition: from the development of a single city to the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, and from “aggregating resources for growth” to “relaxing the development of functions and development”. This is an urgent requirement to solve the "big city disease" problem and resolve the contradiction between the people's growing good living needs and unbalanced development, and build a world-class harmonious and livable capital.
The coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei has opened up a good situation in which "one core and two wings" cooperate and interact. "One core" is the main space carrier for fulfilling the functions of the capital. Due to the fact that the density is too large and the functions are excessive, it affects the functioning of the capital. It is necessary to disperse non-capital functions and solve the "big city disease" problem caused by "denseness." The urban sub-center is a centralized bearer of non-capital functions in the Beijing area. The Xiong'an New District serves as a centralized bearer for non-capital functions outside the Beijing municipality. Dissolving non-capital functions is a obstacle for the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. We must unremittingly resolve non-capital functions, fully support the construction of the Xiong'an New District, build a high-level urban sub-center, and exert Beijing’s role as a driving force for radiation, and focus on transportation integration. The three key areas of environmental protection, ecological environment protection, and industrial upgrading and transfer were the first wave of breakthroughs to ensure that the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei achieved new results, and efforts were made to create a world-class urban agglomeration with the capital as the core.
To ease the development of the function, the focus is on rectification and improvement. By reducing the amount of development, displacing population and urban governance, we can promote high-quality development and optimize the function of the capital. In terms of reduction, we will do a solid job in the implementation of the overall urban planning, strictly control the population size and scale of construction, and strictly observe “three red lines”: the total population cap, ecological control lines, and the urban development boundary to ensure the negative growth of urban and rural construction land, stop the expansion of planned construction scale of the central city, effectively solving the "big city disease" problem in "slimming and fitness". In terms of unloading, we have firmly promoted the elimination of non-capital functions, optimized the selection of industries, especially industrial projects, and highlighted high-end, good-service, agglomeration, fusion, and low carbonization to build a sophisticated economic structure. In the governance of megacities, we will strengthen environmental governance, dismantle illegal buildings, eliminate hidden dangers in urban security, create a good residential environment, promote fine urban governance, and explore effective megacities governance systems. With the guidance of “co-construction, sharing, co-governance” principle, we will promote the reform and innovation of social governance and modernize the city's urban governance system and governance capabilities.
In order to achieve economic growth and keep dynamics of capital society with reducing the population and city construction, the only way out is innovative development. Innovation is the advantage of Beijing. Innovation must be placed at the center of the overall situation, with the “three cities and one district” as the main platform to promote the construction of a national science and technology innovation center, strive to make breakthroughs in the core technology and core equipment of the country's major strategic industries, cultivate a group of innovative companies with global influence, and strive to make Beijing become the scientific and technological achievements transformation zone, demonstration area for technological innovation, advancing deepening reform area and high-technology industries area with global influence, ultimately form a modern economic system led by innovation.
(The author is the Secretary of the Party Committee of Renmin University of China and the chief expert of the Capital Development and Strategy Research Institute.)
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