Great changes have taken place in Beijing after China's reform and opening up. Improving infrastructure by build-ing roads and communication networks has borne wonder-ful results. The Second and Third Ring roads have helped it shape a round traffic network with many overpasses.

The capital has the highest program-controlled telephone pen-etration, and an increasing number of parks, green spaces and modern buildings have come up since it won the bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games. And authorities have charted long-term development plans for Bejjing to make it more beautiful.[1]

Tianjin is situated on the confluence of the five branches of the Haihe River (the Yongding, Daqing, Ziya, Nanyun and Beiyun rivers), and has long been an economic center and international port city. It is one of China's four munici-palities under direct central government control, and has a population of about 10 million. It has long been a well-known industrial and commercial city, and the largest trade port in North China. It has sound and strong base in indus-tries such as iron & steel, machinery, chemical, electronics, food, papermaking, rubber, marine chemicals and textiles.

Tanjin Port has a long history and serves not only Beijing, but also the rest of North China. The port mainly handles exports from and imports to Beijing, North China and Inner Mongolia. And thanks to its huge area and moder facilities, it can handle more than 200 million tons of cargo and about 5 million TEU of containers a year.

The Tianjin Binhai Economic Development Zone, 40 km east of Tianjin city, faces the Bohai Sea on the east. It used to be a barren salt marsh when the government decided to develop it into an economic zone in 1995. Many world-famous companies have set up shop there, with the four pil-lar industries of electronic communication, food, machinery and bio-pharmacy making it one of China's most profitable development zones, Many of its economic indicators rank among the best in the country.

Tianjin is 120 km east of Beijing and connected to it via railways and expressways. Free flow of traffic has helped es-tablish close economic ties between the two cities. Langfang in Hebei, situated between Beijing and Tianjin, and Tang-shan and Qinhuangdao, northeast of Beijing and Tianjin, are closely associated with the two cties. The result: an econom-ic system with complete infrastructure and complementary strengths.

Tangshan mainly produces coal, with its Kailuian Coal Mine being one of oldest in China. Its iron & seel, machin-ery and ceramic industies have developed well because of the coal industry.

Qinhuangdao, China's largest port eity for coal ex-ports, is the terminating point of the coal-transporting Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway, which helps export more than 100 million tons of coal a year.

The Bohai Rim Economic Zone, proposed by Chinese economists, has added the Liaodong Peninsula on the north-eastern side of the Bohai Sea and the Shandong Peninsula in the south to the Beijing-Tianjin Tangshan development region. The zone has created an impact on provinces such as Shanxi and autonomous regions like Inner Mongolia, too. After the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, the Bohai Rim Economic Zone has the fastest development pace and is expected to grow as an economic belt with great-er influence on China's eastern coast and even the whole of Northeast Asia.

The Bohai Rim Economic Zone is the largest manufactur-ing base in China's northern coastal area. Though its area is smaller the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, it has rich natural resources and a pool of highly educated people, which the other two regions cannot match. The Bohai Rim enjoys a strong advantage in goods produced by the iron & steel, crude oil and salt sectors, and has seen rapid development of high- industries such as electronic in-formation, bio-pharmacy and new materials.

Beijing is undergoing a period of large scale construction, thanks to the Olympic Games. The "Olympic economy" has acted like a super engine and the Games was a powerful impetus for the Bohai Rim Economic Zone. Experts say the Olympies will help raise China's GDP by 0.3 per cent ayear, with the capital being the frst to enjioy the beneft.

Note: 

[1] Tianjin, one of China's four municipalities directly under the central govemnment, is a famous industrial and commercial city and the biggest trade port in North China.