Innovation ecosystem

While progress across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is evident, structural challenges remain.

Yi, from the Innovation and Development Strategy Research Institute, said cross-regional incentives are still insufficient, the technology commercialization chain is incomplete, and barriers to talent and capital mobility remain.

To address these issues, she recommended policy measures such as tax incentives to ensure stakeholders benefit from project implementation, and the establishment of high-level pilot production and concept verification centers in Hebei and Tianjin. She also recommended expanded access to education, healthcare, and housing through the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei talent green card system to facilitate smoother movement of innovation resources.

Xiong'an has actively applied some of these strategies.

The Xiong'an Future City Scenario Expo serves as a platform to incubate, demonstrate and industrialize new technologies. Wu Haijun, office director of the expo's organizing committee, said the latest expo focuses on nine key sectors, with over 500 scenario-based demands totaling 9.29 billion yuan in ready-to-implement projects. Many technologies fill domestic gaps and meet international standards.

An illustration of innovation via the expo is the Beidou Underground Space Navigation System, developed by Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. The system addresses the long-standing challenge of Beidou signals not reaching underground by integrating satellite navigation with 5G indoor positioning to enable seamless tracking in subways, underground parking spots, and tunnels.

"The past five years have been about bringing Beidou from the sky to people's daily lives," said Lu Zhaoming, vice-president of the Xiong'an Aerospace Information Research Institute.

The platform's Youxin-1 indoor-outdoor continuous positioning module can monitor vehicles carrying hazardous materials and support urban safety projects. In real-world environments, it is being scaled to meet the demands of high-speed rail stations, commercial developments, and other urban scenarios.

"By testing technologies in actual settings, we can co-develop and industrialize solutions with universities, research institutes, and local governments," Lu said.

Xiong'an's proximity to Beijing, combined with strong academic support, government facilitation, and a citywide innovation ecosystem, makes it ideal for rapid technology validation and industrialization, he said.

Yang Cheng in Beijing contributed to this story.