A bridge is illuminated at night in an aerial view of the Canal Business District in Beijing's Tongzhou district.

Members of the public visit Beijing Library in Tongzhou district, which features a large modern reading area.

Since the construction plan of Beijing Municipal Administrative Center was initiated in 2016, the project has achieved notable results in relieving Beijing of non-capital functions, which was reflected in an array of economic indicators released at the end of 2025.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the regional GDP of Tongzhou is expected to grow at an average annual rate of more than 6 percent. The number hit 10.9 percent during the first three quarters of this year, ranking second in the city, said Zheng Hao, district mayor.

Zheng made the remarks at a news conference in November. Officials at the conference said since 2016, the cumulative fixed-asset investment has exceeded 960 billion yuan ($137 billion). Fixed-asset investment has stood above 100 billion yuan for five consecutive years. More than 20,000 new enterprises have been established annually on average over the past five years.

Tongzhou has ranked first among Beijing's districts in terms of total construction and installation investment for six straight years, achieving an optimized investment structure, the reconstruction of functional systems and a leap in carrying capacity.

Among them, the ratio of investment in public services and infrastructure has been maintained at 30 percent, with the investment scale exceeding 150 billion yuan in the past five years.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the per capita disposable income of Tongzhou residents rose by 27.1 percent compared with 2020.Key livelihood projects such as the Beijing Performing Arts Center, the Beijing Library and the Grand Canal Museum of Beijing have been completed.

More than 60,000 new school positions have been added in the district. The number of hospital beds across the district has increased by 50 percent compared with 2020, and more than 3,600 government services have been made accessible across different provinces.

Universal Beijing Resort now receives more than 10 million visitors annually. The Beijing Wanli commercial and entertainment complex, located on the east side of the resort, was opened to the public on Friday. It serves as a key destination for shopping and entertainment for the visitors to Universal Beijing Resort.

Green development has been a distinctive hallmark of the Tongzhou's development. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the cumulative concentration of PM2.5 in Tongzhou district has met the secondary standard in the country, an improvement of 24 percent over 2020.

The district has built eight major ecological clusters and 600 kilometers of greenways. The environment, featuring water and green spaces, has attracted more than 370 species of wild birds.

At the COP30 Local Leaders Forum held in November in Rio de Janeiro, Beijing was awarded the 2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Local Leaders Climate Award due to its efforts in "building a climate-resilient Beijing municipal administrative center".

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the cultural and tourism industry of the district has also witnessed rapid growth, injecting momentum into the high-quality development of the region.

Lin Zhenghang, deputy mayor of the district, said that the total tourism consumption of Tongzhou reached 19.7 billion yuan in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 19.6 percent and a 3.7-fold increase from 2020.

Tourism consumption in the first half of 2025 increased by 12.7 percent year-on-year, ranking first in Beijing in terms of growth rate.

Beijing MC has also been boosting the development of cutting-edge industries. These include advanced manufacturing, modern finance, digital economy, and pharmaceutical and healthcare.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the number of industrial enterprises above designated size — enterprises with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan — in the district reached 2,800, an increase of 52 percent compared with 2020.

The total industrial output value of those enterprises, represented by advanced manufacturing, exceeded 100 billion yuan, a 70-percent increase from 2020.

As more companies come to the district, Tongzhou has formulated a housing security plan. It integrates rental, purchase and construction in response to the needs of employees of relocated enterprises, hospitals and universities. More than 5,000 units of collective rental housing, guaranteed rental housing and talent apartments are being provided. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, various affordable housing projects in the district have benefited more than 450,000 people.