North China's Tianjin, firmly positioned as an advanced research and development base for the manufacturing industry, has been facilitating the transfer of Beijing's non-capital functions, cultivating a new driving force for economic growth and improving its business environment and platforms, with sound achievements achieved in the synergetic development of all industries in collaboration with Beijing and Hebei over the past eight years.

Statistics show that 3,062 projects with a combined value of 448.2 billion yuan (about $71.2 billion) were transferred from Beijing to Tianjin during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20). A number of landmark programs such as China General Technology (Group) Holding's machine tool equipment headquarters were introduced to Tianjin and many leading Beijing-based centrally-administered state-owned firms (SOEs) and private enterprises signed strategic agreements with Tianjin.

Along with leading large firms, many small and medium-sized high-tech enterprises have jointly fostered new momentum for the high-quality growth of Tianjin over the past years.

"Tianjin enjoys an advantageous location, relatively complete industries and favorable policies. Local operational costs are lower than those of Beijing. Our company now has a larger space that can be used for scientific and technological research and business production. In addition, we can better utilize education resources and seek support from universities and colleges in Beijing and Tianjin in our independent research," said Tong Bingran, general-manager of Tianjin Zhongke Huaying Technology Co., Ltd.

Tong said the Tianjin Haihe Talent Plan has successfully helped many sci-tech firms find ideal professionals in the expansion of their business activities and that the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has unleashed many tangible benefits for companies like his in the past few years.

Liu Jie, chairman of Tianjin Zhongke Huaying Technology, said the just-concluded Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics helped the public learn about the plentiful achievements brought by the integrated development of relevant industrial sectors in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area.

For instance, the hydrogen fuel cell buses for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics used technology from Liu's firm. The high-power DCDC converter developed by his company ensured the efficient operation of the buses in cold weather.

Sun Honglei, director of the planning and development department of the Tianjin Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, said noticeable progress has been made in the transfer of Beijing's non-essential functions, the consolidation of cooperation in the building of industrial parks, the cultivation of regional industrial chains and leading firms, and the promotion of economic recovery amid the spread of the novel coronavirus in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area during the past eight years.

Sun said the Tianjin Bureau of Industry and Information Technology will strengthen cooperation with its counterparts in Beijing and Hebei, take part in the formulation of a synergetic development plan for industries in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, accelerate the building of an integrated pattern featuring a clear development position and highly interdependent industrial chains in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, and highlight the supporting role of the manufacturing industry in the high-quality development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area in the future.

Sun added that Tianjin will further aid Beijing in the transfer of its non-essential functions, attract more high-quality projects, strengthen its capacity building in the alignment of industries with the other two provincial regions, and promote the synergetic development of industries in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area to a new height.