A new area of opportunities that calls for deeper reforms

In the lexicon of Chinese authorities, only matters of extremely vital and long-lasting impacts, such as national education, qualify as being of "centennial" significance.

The idea to build a Xiongan New Area in North China's Hebei province, which the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China's Cabinet, announced on April 1, however, is labeled as "millennial".

Although the yet-to-materialize new area is cited as another key experimental move akin to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in South China's Guangdong province and the Pudong New Area in Shanghai, two milestones in China's reform and opening-up, the way it is being officially positioned is symbolic of the higher hopes it carries.