Gabriela Fonseca, a journalist with the Mexico Daily, knew little about the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (Jing-Jin-Ji) before her visit to an agricultural logistics park 100 km northwest of Beijing. [Special Coverage]
Tasting fruit while listening to the introduction of Hebei Xinfadi, she began to realize the reason for moving the agricultural wholesale market from the national capital to neighboring areas.
Just like Fonseca, hundreds of international journalists covering the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) had traveled in and outside Beijing over the last week to get first-hand knowledge about China's development that has entered a "new era."
JING-JIN-JI COORDINATED DEVELOPMENT
Taking up a vast swathe of land outside the fourth ring road in the southern part of the capital, Beijing Xinfadi has been China's largest wholesale agricultural produce market for 14 years in terms of both transaction volume and value.
However, its large size puts pressures on the capital's traffic, population and environment.
The Hebei logistics park opened two years ago to take over part of Beijing Xinfadi's functions, helping reduce the capital's population and traffic pressure, while contributing to local employment and income.
"It is a smart idea to solve the problem of highly-populated cities, especially capital cities," Fonseca said.
Moving the non-capital functions away from Beijing to neighboring Tianjin and Hebei Province is an important component of the Jing-Jin-Ji coordinated development plan unveiled in 2015. Jing is for Beijing, Jin is for Tianjin and Ji, is a traditional abbreviation for Hebei Province.
The coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has made notable progress, according to a report delivered last week by Xi Jinping at the opening of the CPC congress.
The report also said that China would further drive the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
The Jing-Jin-Ji coordinated development is a unique case in human history that involves such an amount of people, said Brazilian political journalist Diego Vinicius Martins, adding the coordination of the region will reshape the northern part of China and create a large and influential city cluster.
CARE FOR THE PEOPLE
In other parts of the Jing-Jin-Ji region, international media witnessed a high-speed train that goes from Beijing to Tianjin in 35 minutes, an elderly care center integrated with a hospital in Hebei and the China-Singapore Tianjin eco-city.
Martins said China had focused on innovation to seek better quality and efficiency. He said, with innovation, "you'll have a better economy and more convenient life for the people."
"What I saw from the report and my visits is that the CPC is putting the people first and seeking greater benefits for the people, including better education and medical services," said Carlos Penaloza, director general of Radio International in Spain.
The report stated that "the original aspiration and the mission of Chinese Communists is to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation."
"One thing I like about China is that it takes the people and job very seriously here," Fonseca said.
EXAMPLE FOR THE WORLD
"The report not only has profound impact on China's future development, but also (is) an example for the whole world, as it explains how China grew into one of the world's largest economies and lays out the development plan until 2050," Penaloza said.
During the past few years, China has maintained its position as the world's second largest economy and contributed more than 30 percent of global economic growth.
Apart from that, China champions the development of "a community with a shared future for mankind" and encourages improvements of the global governance system.
Abdulwaheed Odusile, president of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, said China's development in the new era was "encouragement" for other developing countries.
"If China can do it, other countries can do it as well. Beyond that, the development in China will be a lesson for other developing countries," Odusile said.
"I'm planning to write about how modern China has become and is becoming more and more important for the world," Fonseca said.
