Beijing's municipal administration confirms plans to move outside city center

Municipal officials in Beijing have confirmed that wholesale markets, hospitals and some of the city’s administrative offices would move from the city center to the suburb of Tongzhou beginning no later than 2013, The New York Times reported, citing a speech by Beijing’s party secretary, Guo Jinlong. The moves are part of a drive to ease pressure on the capital’s congested center and create a new urban corridor encompassing the three contiguous northeastern administrative regions of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. Beijing proper will also limit its population to 23 million, just above its current officially estimated population of 22 million, and reduce the population of its six core districts by 15%.