Beijing-Tianjin logistics park starts construction. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Beijing-Tianjin logistics park, a project designed to promote business connectivity between the two municipalities, has started construction.

Covering a construction area of about 55,000 square meters in Binhai Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone, the plans involve the construction of three cold storage units, two general warehouses, and one comprehensive office building. A similar sized loading and outdoor storage area is planned for completion by 2021.

The three cold storage units, each with a capacity of 1.5 tons, will be the largest in Tianjin port. They are expected to facilitate the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.

In addition, according to Xu Xubo, deputy head of Tianjin Port Group, the large cold capacities will facilitate the port city in becoming the main hub for imported frozen goods in northern China, and enhance its supply capability in meeting the growing consumption demands of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

By the time of its completion, the logistics park will provide cargo storage, inspection and processing services, and, by using technologies such as big data and cloud computing, a new cold chain development model will be explored.

It’s an implementation of a strategic cooperation framework reached in September 2014 between Tianjin Port Group and Beijing Enterprises Group Company, a state-owned group company funded by the Beijing government.

The coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is considered as a national strategy for economic momentum. According to the 2020 Government Work Report delivered at the opening of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress , the government will move forward with the regional development strategies.

Currently, the region's combined GDP accounts for nearly 10 percent of China's total, and its total population is more than 110 million - 8 percent of the whole country. It is expected to become a globally competitive and technologically innovative mega city cluster that can compete with other leading ones in the world.

Officials and experts said the significance of the region lies in the fact that it will not only enhance regional economic efficiency and reduce the income gap in related areas, but it will also help fuel the growth of the entire Bohai Bay area, and even the whole nation.