Beijing started Tuesday the reconstruction of a major road to the east of Wangfujing, the city 's busiest commercial street.

The reconstruction of the 1,430-meter long Jinbao Street, which links Dongdan Avenue in the west and the city's Second Ring Road, will cost a total of four billion yuan and be completed in August next year.

The first phase of the reconstruction project starts at Dongdan Avenue and ends at Chaonei Street. More than 3,800 residential houses will be relocated from the area to other places.

After reconstruction, the street will be 40 meters wide and the area besides the street will be turned into a new commercial zone neighboring Wangfujing Street.

The traffic jam at Jinbao Street has long been a bottleneck holding up development of Wangfujing Street, which is located in the central downtown area of Beijing only two km from the Beijing Railway Station.

The reconstruction will be jointly carried out by the government of the Dongcheng District and a Hong Kong-based corporation.

(Xinhua 12/26/2000)