Addressing traffic woes

Regarding Beijing's traffic woes, Guo said easing congestion remains a pressing task in the city with 20 million people and 4.8 million vehicles. Still, he vowed to "effectively curb congestion" within five years.

The city will continue to boost public transport, to ensure 50 percent of in-city trips are done taking buses, subway trains or taxis instead of private cars.

In what Chinese Internet users describe as "the toughest congestion-tackling measures in history," Beijing is limiting this year's issuance of new car license plates to 240,000, one third the number in 2010.

From Jan. 1, car buyers in Beijing had to apply and then draw lots before obtaining a car license plate.

In the meantime, city authorities have vowed to keep the fleet of public cars in Beijing, mainly vehicles owned by government organizations, from expanding further.