BEIJING - A major logistics industrial park is planned for Sanhe city, north China's Hebei province, the center of the Bohai Economic Rim, which is expected to become a new economic development zone.

Over 40 experts and scholars from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and several other ministerial departments attended a workshop on the plans on Tuesday in Beijing.

Lin Hua, a senior researcher with the economic institute under the NDRC, delivered a report on the plans for the China Yanjiao Logistics City, which will cover 10 kilometers and involve 80 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) in investment.

According to the researcher, the area will be built into an industrial development zone focusing on trade and logistics. It will also host an international supply chain and a trade hub for the Bohai Economic Rim.

In addition to logistics and trade, the China Yanjiao Logistics City will also be turned into a tourism and cultural development area, under the guiding principle of sustainable development.

A large number of economically-backward areas still surround Beijing and Tianjin municipalities. Unlike the economically-developed Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, the development of the Bohai Economic Rim has been progressing quite slowly, though it has been discussed for a long time.