Beijing releases full text of new city plan

Authorities in Beijing Friday released the full text of a general city plan for 2016 to 2035, setting the goal of becoming a "world-class harmonious and livable city."

The 60,000-character document consists of eight chapters on the city's strategic positioning, spatial distribution, historical protection, overall development of urban and rural areas, and regional collaboration.

The plan, submitted by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Beijing Municipal Committee and Beijing municipal government, was approved by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council Wednesday.

The two major objectives for the plan are to remove non-capital functions and solve "big city diseases."

To realize the first goal, the document said the city should seize the opportunity of coordinated development in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei regions and optimize the capital's positioning as a national center of politics, culture, international exchanges, and scientific and technological innovation.

To address the urban diseases, the document said the residential population should be brought below 23 million. Land for construction should be reduced to about 2,860 square km by 2020 and to 2,760 square km by 2035.

The plan also specifies the targets for smog control, with PM 2.5 density intended to decrease from the current levels of 80.6 micrograms to 56 micrograms per cubic meter of air by 2020, and air quality ultimately improved by 2035.

To realize the targets, the plan says Beijing will ban coal-firing furnaces by 2020, and forbid coal use by 2035.

New energy and renewable energy will account for over 8 percent of total energy consumption by 2020 and 20 percent by 2035. The current share of new energy and renewable energy consumption is 6.6 percent.

The city's green area will grow from 41.6 percent to 44 percent by 2020, and no lower than 45 percent by 2035.

Objectives are also set in aspects of water sources, soil pollution control and garbage processing, according to the plan.

Qian Yi, an environmentalist with Tsinghua University, said the plan has demonstrated the guideline of the 18th CPC National Congress in strengthening ecological construction.

"By integrating ecological development into China's political, economical, cultural and social construction, I believe Beijing will become a city of great ecology, and lead the country to be built into a 'beautiful China'," he said.