A regulation enacted at the 19th session of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress' 12th Standing Committee four days ago is designed to limit the population in the capital's downtown area and encourage more residents to move to the suburbs.

It is the first time Beijing has put the policy into law, according to Zhang Yin, vice chairman of the municipal Legislative Affairs Committee.

Zhang said the municipal government will accelerate construction of 11 new satellite towns. By 2020, an estimated 90 percent of Beijing residents will live in the suburbs.

The total population of Beijing is expected to rise to 17.6 million by that year. City plans call for the urban population to drop to 1.9 million, just 10.9 percent of the total. The population in the inner suburbs will increase to 10.3 million, 58.6 percent of the total, while that in the outer suburban areas will rise to 5.4 million, or 30.5 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2005)