Town planners from around the world are to be invited, through open bidding, to submit comprehensive designs for three key streets in China's capital.

The international bidding process is expected to be launched before June, under a scheme to protect the city's historical and cultural heritage, Wednesday's Beijing Youth Daily reports.

Planning on the three streets -- Chang'an Avenue, the Zhongzhou (central axis) artery and Chaoyangmen-Fuchengmen Street -- will be of great significance to Beijing's future development, officials at the municipal city planning committee said.

It is expected that the street design program will help to standardize and improve traffic flow in Chang'an Avenue, also known as the "first avenue of China", highlight the cultural characteristics of the 25-km Zhongzhou artery and reallocate the traditional cultural resources along the Chaoyangmen-Fuchengmen street to make it a prominent "sightseeing corridor" in the city, according to the newspaper.

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2002)