China is planning to build a new city to be nearly three times the size of New York, it has been reported.

Plans for the Xiongan New Area, in Hebei Province, were announced by the country’s ruling Communist Party on Saturday.

The new area will cover around 100 sq km initially and will be later expanded to about 2,000 sq km.

A circular issued by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council described the move as a “strategy crucial for a millennium to come”.

It represents the government effort to address traffic congestion, air pollution and population growth in Beijing [pictured] by moving certain non-essential facilities to nearby regions, the official news agency Xinhua reported.

The new special economic zone — to span the counties of Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin — will "serve as another economic engine and advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region”.

According to Bloomberg, prospective buyers ‘invaded’ the region to buy property within hours of the announcement, “with some camping outside property agent offices overnight”. The government was then forced to freeze all property sales on the region due to “stem speculation”.