Beijing authorities have announced a crackdown on
illegal outdoor advertising.
Fly posters and large billboard ads have
proliferated along the capital's teeming roads on lampposts,
telegraph poles and other street furniture.
The Beijing Municipal Administration Commission
issued a notice on Sunday ordering those companies responsible to
remove illegal advertising within three days or face stiff
penalties.
The new regulation also orders government
organizations to make known their outdoor advertisement plans by
December 15. Illegal ads will be demolished if they are not
sanctioned.
Individuals and companies who refuse to comply will
face a fine of up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,200).
While some say advertisements are harmless, others
see them as tawdry and tasteless. The Shanghai municipal government
has also launched a fight against billboards in a bid to cut
"visual pollution" in the city.
Beijing is divided into areas where outdoor
advertisements are strictly forbidden and areas where only certain
advertisements are allowed.
Specifically, outdoor advertising is forbidden
around Tian'anmen Square, Communist Party of China and government
buildings, foreign embassies, schools, scenic spots, cultural
heritage sites and at interchanges or overpasses.
Buses and cars carrying advertisements are not
allowed to pass through Tian'anmen Square or on several surrounding
streets.
The Beijing Municipal Administration Commission is
in charge of bidding for advertising space on expressways, ring
roads, capital airport, railway stations and economic development
zones.
Last month, two-year rights for 29 billboards along
the east section of the Fifth Ring Road and the Beijing-Chengde
Expressway boosted municipal revenue by 26.5 million yuan (US$3.2
million).
(China Daily December 13, 2004)