Progress is increasingly evident as the project celebrates its third anniversary. Zhang Yu reports from Xiongan New Area, Hebei.

Sitting in a car on the roadside and looking at the scenery around Xiongan New Area, Hebei province, one could see the answer to a frequently asked question, "How is the new economic engine near Beijing looking now?"

On both sides of a highway, vast stretches of land were dotted with construction projects.

The temperature was a comfortable 17 C and a mild spring wind was blowing, but Gao Jianxun was sweating profusely after walking around a forest for two hours.

After checking thoroughly for potential sources of forest fires, he removed his jacket and started cutting withered branches from a pine tree.

These are daily tasks for the 51-year-old ranger, who works in the managed forest in the economic area, which was founded three years ago about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing.

Established in April, 2017, Xiongan New Area is a key step in the country's regional development strategy for Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. The neighbors have undergone coordinated development for six years in total.

"Xiongan is now at a stage of substantive construction and should speed up the construction of key projects," Xu Qin, governor of Hebei, said during an inspection tour of the area on Monday.