The Beijing delegation to the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress spoke with the media in the afternoon on Oct. 19. After giving their thoughts on General Secretary Xi Jinping's report to the National Congress, the delegates answered questions from reporters.

A total of 202 reporters from 134 media organizations attended the press conference, including China’s People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency and CCTV, foreign media organizations such as the Associated Press, Reuters and Wall Street Journal, as well as press corps from Africa, Serbia and countries along the Belt and Road.

Chen Jining, deputy secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC and acting mayor of Beijing, answered questions from ITAR-TASS about Beijing’s overall plan (2016-2035) which made public last month.

Chen said the core of the master plan is to define Beijing as the national center of politics, culture, international exchanges as well as scientific and technological innovation. As the only urban plan approved by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, it maps out Beijing’s role from the needs of the country and hence places Beijing as a part of the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Chen said the plan emphasized the fundamental task of reducing Beijing's non-capital functions and set three bottom lines for the city. The city will hold its population to 23 million by 2020, and increase its ecological areas to 73 percent of the city's area by 2020 and 75 percent by 2035. It will also reduce the land used for construction from 2,945 square kilometers to 2,860 square kilometers by 2020, and to 2,760 square kilometers by 2035.

The plan provides comprehensive solutions to relieving traffic congestion, controlling housing prices, improving air quality and other urban diseases in Beijing, Chen said. He added that the plan also emphasized on preserving the historical and cultural heritage in Beijing.

Chen also took questions from Phoenix TV, explaining the meaning of “one core and two wings” in Beijing’s urban plan. He said Beijing is the “core” while Xiongan New Area in Hebei Province and the subsidiary center of Beijing are the two “wings” to promote the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and develop a world-class city group surrounding Beijing.

Zhang Jiandong, deputy mayor of Beijing and vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, answered questions from BTV about the preparations of the games.

He said the construction of all the stadiums and infrastructure had begun. All the new stadiums will be completed by the end of 2019.

He said the games will help to promote the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in terms of transportation infrastructure, environmental protection, the development of sports and leisure industries and the building and sharing of public services.