Future city raises hopes for locals

Many low-end jobs expected to support high-end enterprises, innovators, government operations

China is building a new city near its overcrowded capital, and it could become a boom town. One million residents already live in the area, and the value of the coming surge is not lost on them.

Li Xin, 22, completed an internship last year at what was then a rural school in a nondescript county just outside Beijing. When the plans for Xiongan New Area were announced, she acted quickly to accept an offer of a permanent position at the school that she had rejected two months before.