Beijing city government told to shift to suburbs
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-12 06:10

The Beijing municipal government may be decentralized to ease the capital\'s worsening traffic chaos.

北京市政府可能会到郊区以减轻日益恶化得交通拥挤状况

Chinese political advisors at the ongoing National People\'s Congress (NPC) 人民代表大会have suggested the capital\'s administrative officials up sticks and move out to the suburbs.

"A new central administrative district should be established in the northern or northwestern suburbs to house those central authorities\' departments whose office buildings now occupy Beijing\'s downtown area," said Zhu Ming, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People\'s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China\'s top advisory body.

新的行政中心区将会建立在北郊或西北郊，

"This will help ease the pressure on Beijing\'s urban transportation and also divert some population from the already overcrowded old city," added Zhu, who is from East China\'s Shandong Province.

将会帮助缓解北京城区的交通压力，并且将转移一些老城已经过于拥挤的人口

He said that the relocation would add convenience and efficiency to the government operation. Currently, the central authorities have scores of office buildings scattered in almost every corner of the city, resulting in "poor communications between each other". 他说重新布局会使政府运转的更方便和高效。目前中央政府的众多的政府办公楼几乎分散于城市的每个角落。导致各个部门的联系很差。

"It will also be conducive to further tapping the tourist potentials of Beijing\'s imperial cultural heritage such as the Forbidden City and other royal palaces and gardens," added Zhu.

这将有利于加强北京象紫禁城故宫和园林等皇家文化遗产得旅游潜力

Echoing Zhu\'s proposal, CPPCC member Cai Guoxiong suggested the municipal government of Beijing should also move its seat out of the busy Wangfujing area.

"Moving to the suburban areas will not only help slow down soaring land prices,疯长的地价 alleviate the traffic congestion 缓解交通拥挤and environmental deterioration环境恶化 in the Wangfujing area, but also enable the city government to upgrade office facilities and improve its working conditions," said Cai.

Decentralisation may even make local government leaders more accountable and in tune with the capital\'s hardworking citizens.

However, according to media reports earlier this year, officials of the Ministry of Construction had clarified that neither the central authorities nor the Beijing city government has any plan for relocation.