Charles Shen, the marketing manager of the Intel China Ltd, now feels it may be a bad decision to live in Xisanqi, some dozen kilometres northwest of central Beijing.
It often takes him 1-1/2 hours every morning to drive through Chaoyang District, located a couple of kilometres northeast of Tian'anmen Square, to his office in Kerry Centre. The centre is situated in the thick of the district and is plagued by worsening traffic jams.
And at the worst of times, he has to wait for as much as 30 minutes in a car queue at his office building when he's made it to just 100 metres from the place.
Shen will be glad to know that the road near his office building will be broadened soon. It is one of the roads that the Chaoyang District government will renovate or broaden by the end of the year.
"We will renovate more than 250 roads by the end of 2008, with a total investment of 12.5 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion)," Li Shixiang, secretary of Chinese Communist Party's Chaoyang Committee of Beijing, told China Daily.
The number of roads to be renovated or broadened will be more than what the district budget supports, since the Beijing municipal government is also taking actions to improve traffic in the district.
Investment in broadening the roads will increase year by year as new demands are expected to emerge and progress on the projects usually requires more input, he said.
"Road renovation is given top priority in our efforts to improve the district's investment environment," Li said.
Chaoyang District is unique in China since nearly all foreign embassies are situated in the district. The district accommodates more offices of foreign companies and international organizations than any other district in the capital city.
The city's planned Central Business District (CBD) in the southeast and the Olympic Park in the north, will be the focus of renovation, according to Li.
Apart from CBD and the Olympic Park, most foreign embassies and foreign agencies in China are also located there.
To ensure traffic is better improved,closed-circuit television cameras will be installed along the streets so the district can be supervised by the police. And police officers will be given professional training during the year, he said.
The corresponding investment last year and in 2002 were 310 million yuan (US$37.40 million) and 350 million yuan (US$42.17 million) respectively, he added.
To match efforts for traffic, the district government plans to spend heavily on public security and the environment.
Li said the government will invest 200 million yuan (US$24.10 million) to 300 million yuan (US$36.14 million) annually in the coming few years to improve public security.
Moreover, the government will spare no effort in environmental protection.
The government has planned to build a waste recycling plant, a garbage disposal plant and mud disposal plant in the coming few years, according to Li.
The new plants will be located near a garbage dump that has been in operation since last October.
And there is a power plant that generates electricity from burning garbage that is now under construction, said Li.
With a total investment of 750 million yuan (US$90.36 million), it is one of the city's key projects to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games. It is expected to start operation that year.
(People's Daily February 26, 2004)
