BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- China's centrally administered state-owned enterprises have taken the lead in building the Xiongan New Area over the past two years.

On April 1, 2017, China announced plans to establish the Xiongan New Area, about 100 km southwest of Beijing, in what an official statement called "a strategy that will have lasting importance for the millennium to come and a significant national event."

The following is a timeline of some key moments of centrally administered SOE participation in building the new area:

-- On Feb. 28, 2018, the building of the Beijing-Xiongan intercity railway started, with the participation of China Railway Group, China Railway Construction Corporation and China Communications Construction. The high-speed railway, set to be operational by 2020, will cut commuting time to 30 minutes.

-- On March 1, 2018, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Xiongan New Area to jointly build a smart city management model.

-- On June 29, 2018, China Southern Airlines announced plan to set up a subsidiary in the new area, with an investment of 10 billion yuan (1.5 billion U.S. dollars).

-- On July 4, 2018, State Grid Corporation of China launched the State Grid Xiongan Financial Technology Group, the first fintech enterprise in the area.

-- On July 18, 2018, Sinopec Capital Co., a subsidiary of Sinopec Group, was unveiled in Xiongan New Area, becoming the area's first investment and operation platform of a central SOE.

-- On Dec. 7, 2018, China State Construction completed the building of and put into use the Xiongan citizen service center, which consumes about 70 percent less energy than traditional buildings thanks to green technology.