What will Beijing be like in five years? Definitely richer,
prettier and more modern with updated facilities and an improved
environment, promised the municipal government.
Beijing's 10th
five-year plan, though still a draft outline after more than
a year's preparation, made its debut yesterday at a standing
committee session of the local legislator, the Beijing Municipal
People's Congress (BMPC).
According to the
draft, by 2005 the city should have become a "garden-like"
city.
Air pollution has
already reduced considerably. Soon, nearly half of Beijing
will be wrapped up in green leaves and colorful blossoms thanks
to 100 scenic parks and environmentally friendly industrial
estates.
The shabby old
houses which occupy much of downtown Beijing will be replaced
with trendy and well-planned residential squares and commercial
districts.
An expanded tube
network, brand new urban trains and improved wide-reaching
roads will make for a fast and convenient urban transport
system.
With some 1 million
new posts arising, the registered unemployment rate of the
city's permanent population should not exceed 2 percent.
The city's gross
domestic product will be double that of this year in 2005,
reaching 370 billion yuan (US$44.9 billion) calculated on
present prices.
Meanwhile, Beijingers
will have much more money in their pockets, whether they live
downtown or in the suburbs. In fact, per capita annual disposable
income is expected to climb at an average yearly rate of 6
per cent in the next five years.
People will enjoy
more spacious housing, on average 18 square meters per person,
and "about half of the city's children of the right age,
with city resident cards, will have the chance to go to college."
The draft will
be submitted for an official discussion during the legislative
body's fourth panel session expected next February.
(China Daily 12/07/2000)
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