Accelerating the transition from a phase of external support to one of self-sustained growth, Xiongan New Area is building new momentum for its headquarters economy.

Recently, the China General Nuclear Power (CGN) Northern Center project was launched in the startup area of Xiongan New Area. Through market-oriented relocation, this state-owned enterprise headquartered in Shenzhen has established a northern center in Xiongan, creating CGN's "central brain" for innovation and development in the new energy sector.

"The CGN Northern Center will fully leverage its advantages to help Xiongan New Area expand its new energy science and innovation industry and strengthen its headquarters economy," said Gao Chao, Party Committee member and vice general manager of China General Nuclear Power New Energy Holdings Co., Ltd. The CGN Northern Center will focus on five major directions — heat, sea, green, sand, and hydrogen — to carry out core technology research, commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, and recruitment of high-end talent, building a full-chain innovation paradigm of "basic research, technology development, achievement transformation, and industrial incubation" to drive the upgrading and technological iteration of the new energy industry.

The establishment of the CGN Northern Center is a vivid microcosm of headquarters enterprises accelerating their convergence on Xiongan New Area. At present, Xiongan New Area is forming a multi-level, multi-sector headquarters economy framework. With the headquarters economy as its engine, the city of the future is accelerating the construction of a strong economic zone, striving to push the development stage of the new area toward a leapfrog transition from a phase of external support to one of self-sustained growth.

Entering the startup area, landmark new buildings come into view — the headquarters of three central state-owned enterprises, China Huaneng, China SatNet, and Sinochem, have risen from the ground and are operating steadily; the China Mineral Resources headquarters building is undergoing interior fine decoration; and the headquarters of four other central state-owned enterprises — China Datang, China Huadian, China Chengtong, and China Agricultural Development Group — are under accelerated construction. At the same time, as market-oriented relocation accelerates, central enterprise science and innovation centers and regional headquarters are settling in one after another: the internet industrial parks of China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom have been completed and put into use, while the CNNC Xiongan Science and Technology Park and others are under intensive construction.

While the "national team" continues to grow, regional headquarters of private enterprises are also arriving in droves. Recently, the number of employees at PDD Holdings Inc Information Technology Services (Xiongan) Co., Ltd. has exceeded 5,000. Two business centers — the Traditional Industry Data Processing Service Center and the Traditional Manufacturing High-Quality Development Comprehensive Service Center — have been successfully established, achieving "accelerated development" in just over three months since settling in Xiongan New Area. As the regional operations center of PDD Holdings Inc in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, PDD Xiongan has complete functions for business coordination, operations management, talent cultivation, and local collaboration, serving as the digital service hub for the entire group.

"With the help of the New Area's Bureau of Commerce and Investment Promotion and other departments, within just three months of settling in Xiongan, we completed the construction of our operations team and got the business system running smoothly," said Yu Xuesong, vice general manager of public affairs at PDD Holdings Inc. He said the group is firmly committed to its goal of taking root in Xiongan and serving Xiongan, and is making every effort to build PDD Xiongan into the group's largest, highest-standard, and most capable digital service delivery base in the northern region.

While private giants take root and develop, multinational corporations are also turning their eyes to Xiongan. As a leading supply chain enterprise in the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore's YCH Group established YCH North China Headquarters (Xiongan) Supply Chain Co., Ltd. in Xiongan New Area last September. "As the group's headquarters in North China, YCH Xiongan undertakes functions such as market development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas, and bonded and cross-border supply chain operations, providing one-stop supply chain solutions to the market," said Ni Zhigen, executive president of corporate development for YCH Group in China. He noted that the establishment of the Xiongan company has enabled YCH to form a "Shanghai-Xiongan" dual-hub pattern in China, spanning north and south.

Comprehensive headquarters, regional headquarters, and functional headquarters of central state-owned enterprises, multinational companies, and private enterprises are accelerating their convergence on Xiongan, continuously unleashing a magnetic effect that attracts upstream and downstream enterprises in industrial chains and talents from all directions. According to reports, the establishment of the CGN Northern Center will bring hundreds of core scientific research backbone talents to Xiongan and is expected to attract related supporting enterprises in new energy equipment manufacturing, smart operation and maintenance services, energy storage system integration, and the hydrogen energy industry chain to gather in Xiongan, helping the New Area accelerate the pace of developing its new energy science and innovation industry. The establishment of PDD Xiongan has already driven the clustering of surrounding lifestyle services, digital technology services, and other business formats, effectively activating regional consumption and supporting industries. YCH, meanwhile, has driven a number of upstream and downstream enterprises in cross-border e-commerce, bulk commodities, cold chain, and intelligent warehousing equipment to head to Xiongan.

Headquarters enterprises are flying in formation like a flock of geese, and the momentum for development is growing ever more powerful. Xiongan New Area is accelerating its efforts to build the most demonstrative and driving headquarters base in the country, speeding toward its goal of becoming a strong economic zone.