OREANDA-NEWS. November 22, 2011. A development plan for coastal regions of North China's Hebei province has been approved by the State Council as an important strategic move during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), according to a notice posted Thursday on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission.

The plan covers the administrative regions of Qinhuangdao, Tangshan and Cangzhou.

The coastal areas of Hebei are strategically projected to become an emerging growth area for the Bohai Sea region, a destination for industries transferring out of Beijing and Tianjin and important new national industrial bases.

"The approval of implementation of the plan promotes the acceleration of the development of regional integration among Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province," said Chen Xiushan, a professor of regional economics at Renmin University of China.

The plan will also reduce population and environmental pressure on the capital, he added.

Government policies give eastern coastal cities extensive support for economic growth by such means as establishing economic zones or issuing strategic development plans.

This situation inevitably leads to competition among regions, and this latest plan will intensify the competition.

Chen said that competition is unavoidable, but the point is how individual cities can gain advantages by coordinating with one another to fulfill development targets in different regions.

To become a key new industrial base, strict pollution controls will be just as important as technological innovation, Chen said.

As the top province in iron and steel production, Hebei has great potential to develop as a processing base for raw materials, Chen said.

In the first half, Hebei's steel sector saw revenue rise 27.3 percent year-on-year to 569.6 billion yuan (USD 89.7 billion), while profits reached 13.1 billion yuan, up 17.7 percent, industry figures show.

Hebei's GDP grew 11.3 percent year-on-year to 1.78 trillion yuan in the first three quarters, according to the provincial bureau of statistics.