Official denies report of setting Baoding as 2nd political center  

保定回应“政治副中心首选保定”：没听说 不清楚

今天，有媒体报道称，中央曾经提出建设政治副中心来分担北京作为政治中心的职能，并初步确定将河北保定市作为政治副中心的首选地。对此，今天下午，保定市政府新闻发言人、市政府秘书长刘峰接受新京报电话采访时表示，“我也是今天上午在网上才看到报道，保定是不是被初步选为政治副中心，不清楚，也没听说这方面消息”。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- An official of Hebei province's Baoding city denied that the city was unofficially chosen by the central government to be the country's second political center, the Beijing News said.

Liu Feng, the spokesperson and secretary-general of the city government, said he "doesn't know or hear of related news" during a telephone interview.

Administrative organs under ministries, along with educational organizations, may first be relocated to Baoding, about 150 kilometers northeast of the capital city, the the Beijing-based magazine Caijing said on Wednesday

People who have a Beijing hukou (local household registration permit) will be allowed to keep it, even after they move to Baoding, a move to reduce opposition, it added.

Analysts said Baoding, Beijing and Tianjin form an equilateral triangle on the map, and the city also lies halfway between Beijing and Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei province.

The policy is believed to help boost the economy of Hebei province, and nine shares related to Hebei industries rose to their limit on Wednesday.

However, two officials of China's National Development and Reform Commission also denied the rumor, according to a media report.

A previous report said that all 13 regions of Hebei province, bordering the national capital Beijing, may change their telephone area code to Beijing's 010.