An economic rim around Beijing will be built jointly by Beijing and neighboring Hebei Province to ease the capital's population pressures and to assist in the development of surrounding regions.

The Economic Rim of the Capital will consist of the 13 counties and cities administered by Hebei that surround Beijing, Zhao Yong, executive deputy governor of Hebei Province said Thursday at a seminar in Beijing about the plan.

The move, experts say, is seen as mutually beneficial for both Beijing and Hebei Province.

Beijing Deputy Mayor Ji Lin said Beijing, like many metropolises in the world, faces the problems of population growth, traffic congestion and environmental degradation as it develops.

Also, Professor Zhou Yanmin with the School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, said Beijing is facing an aging problem and there is a rising demand for older people to move out of downtown areas.

Zhou said elderly people would prefer to spend their late years outside the 5th Ring Road of Beijing, but only if there is clean air and a good infrastructure.

By the end of 2009, the number of persons 60 years or older in Beijing climbed to 2.27 million, or 18.2 percent of the city' s registered population.

However, experts note that the capital rim will not only benefit overcrowded Beijing - it will also boost development in Hebei Province, Ji said at the signing ceremony.

According to the agreement signed Wednesday, people in the 13 counties and cities will have access to the telephone area code of Beijing, "010," by the end of the year, which will make their telephone calls to Beijing less expensive.

The residents will also be able to arrive in downtown Beijing within 30 minutes in three to five years after new highways, subways and inter-city railway lines are built, Zhao said.

Moreover, the government of Hebei Province is planning to build three new cities around the capital, which will be located to the east, south and north. The three new cities will have a targeted population of 1.5 million, 1 million and 300,000, respectively by the year 2015.

Additionally, both parties agreed to expand their cooperation to pension, health care and other public services in the economic rim.