Hebei province plans to build three new cities in the east, north and south of Beijing, China National Radio reported.

Jingdong (which means east of Beijing) will contain three counties of Langfang, Hebei province; Jingnan (south of Beijing) will contain Baoding and Zhuozhou; Jingbei (north of Beijing), will contain Zhangjiakou and Huailai.

Building the new cities is an important part of the urbanization plan of Hebei province.

The plan said that by 2015, the population of Jingdong will reach 1.5 million, Jingnan will have a population of 1 million and Jingbei will have a population of 300,000.

A provincial government official said the plan for the new cities will relieve the pressure of Beijing's urban development.