It has been nine years since the construction of Xiong'an began. An immense investment of 1 trillion yuan has been poured in, resulting in over 5,300 buildings rising from the ground. The city has attracted the headquarters of eight central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and more than 400 of their branches, alongside over 4,000 companies relocated from Beijing. By the numbers, the city's framework is firmly in place.
However, a city requires more than just a skeleton; it needs to develop substance. Xiong'an's current resident population stands at 1.41 million, which, given its developed area of 215 square kilometers, leaves it feeling rather sparse. Many SOE employees still live a "dual-city" life, commuting to Xiong'an on weekdays and returning to Beijing for weekends. Despite the high-speed rail journey being only half an hour, their lives remain tethered to the tracks between the two cities. This pattern, ironically, increases transportation costs and creates additional pressure on commuter flows. Why does this happen? The local industrial ecosystem is still in its formative stages.
While central SOEs provide a foundational base, the true flesh and blood of a city must come from market-driven, dynamic private enterprises that can create consumption scenarios and employment chains. This is where PDD Holdings Inc (commonly known as Pinduoduo) enters the picture.
On May 27th, Pinduoduo Information Technology Service (Xiong'an) Co., Ltd. was officially registered and established. An initial cash injection of 500 million yuan has been secured. The company has launched direct recruitment for the first batch of 1,000 positions, with the total number of planned roles exceeding 5,000 over the full cycle. It is important to note that these 5,000 positions are long-term, technical roles. They involve big data processing, digital operations and maintenance, and cloud platform services—essentially, the formal staff positions typical of a major internet company: programmers, algorithm engineers, product managers, and operations experts.
These 5,000 young employees, with an average age under 30, will rent or buy homes in Xiong'an. They will eat out, shop, drink coffee, host visiting family, and eventually get married and have children. One individual drives an entire consumption chain; one family fosters a whole community ecosystem. Coffee shops will open, gyms will open, and escape room venues will open. This is how a city develops substance.
Pinduoduo's choice of Xiong'an makes clear economic sense. Office rents, electricity costs, and labor expenses in Xiong'an are significantly lower than in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Xiong'an's "Top Talent Sixteen Measures" policy directly awards talent with bonuses equivalent to 50% to 100% of their salaries, coupled with talent apartment accommodations and rent reductions, substantially lowering overall operational costs. For a private enterprise like Pinduoduo, which is fully committed to its supply chain strategy and plans to invest 100 billion yuan over three years, these represent tangible cost savings.
More crucially, Xiong'an benefits from breakthroughs in data element circulation systems and is equipped with a city-level computing power center (the "Xiong'an Eye" aggregates 40 billion pieces of urban data) and an international internet data dedicated channel. For a company like Pinduoduo, which is transitioning from consumer internet to industrial internet, Xiong'an's digital infrastructure is more than sufficient. Relocating parts of its backend operations—such as big data processing, content review governance, and cloud platform maintenance—from first-tier cities to Xiong'an not only reduces costs but also brings the company closer to policy resources.
In the long run, productizing these capabilities for external output could become Pinduoduo's second growth curve. With the economics making sense and talent being attracted, the business can thrive. Pinduoduo's next task is to execute its plan effectively, proving that its move to Xiong'an as a technology-driven private enterprise is the right decision.
The broader significance of this move extends beyond Xiong'an itself. Beijing's population has reached its limit. With 22 million permanent residents, crowded subways, and housing prices outside the Third Ring Road soaring to tens of thousands of yuan per square meter, the strain on transportation and housing is immense, with education and healthcare systems also overloaded. The policy of relocating Beijing's non-capital functions has been discussed for years. While some SOE headquarters have moved, large-scale relocation driven by market-oriented enterprises is the key to genuine relief.
If Xiong'an can cultivate a robust industrial ecosystem—forming clusters of tech innovation companies, digital economy industrial belts, and cross-border e-commerce hubs alongside the administrative headquarters of SOEs—then Beijing's population pressure could find a real outlet. Young people, seeing major internet companies gathering in Xiong'an, visible development prospects, lower living costs, and a half-hour high-speed rail commute, would be drawn to move there.
Pinduoduo is the first major company to make a substantial commitment with real capital and concrete job opportunities. It serves as a signal. If Pinduoduo's venture proves successful, others like JD.com's data annotation centers, ByteDance's content review bases, and Alibaba's government cloud nodes may follow with greater determination. Other tech companies still on the sidelines might then prioritize Xiong'an in their short-term expansion plans. This is the power of a successful example.
After nine years of development, Xiong'an is shifting its focus from "relocating SOEs" to "attracting private enterprises"—a very sound direction. A city's framework can be planned, but its vitality requires countless market-oriented enterprises to truly establish themselves and operate for the long term. Pinduoduo has taken this first step, and a promising one at that. Xiong'an's technological environment and cost advantages should allow the company to thrive there. It is hoped that others will follow this path with determination. The central SOEs should also strive to contribute their part.
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