Province steps out from the shadows of its neighbors

As a large province neighbored by two major metropolises, Hebei was once overshadowed by Beijing and Tianjin's economic and social development. But times have changed, and the province is catching up at a rapid pace.

Covering almost 190,000 square kilometers, roughly 12 times the size of Beijing, Hebei has played a greater role since 2014, when a national development strategy - the integrated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region - was launched to tackle unbalanced development.

A key task for the province was to take over "noncapital city" functions from Beijing and become the base for industries, enterprise headquarters, institutions, logistic companies and markets.