Beijing plans clean-up for markets

Beijing is mulling possible relocation sites for the well-known clothing wholesale market hub near the Beijing Zoo, said an official from Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning on Monday, in a bid to ease overcrowding and optimize urban planning.

Possible sites include the Beijing suburbs or Hebei Province, the Beijing News reported.

The capital is launching a campaign to renovate and relocate downtown wholesale markets and is trying to ease congestion near four locations, the Beijing Zoo clothing markets in Xicheng, the Dahongmen clothing markets and the Xinfadi farm produce markets in Fengtai and the Shilihe building materials markets in Chaoyang.

"The relocation of small commodities markets will start with the Beijing Zoo clothing markets, and the Xicheng district government and the commission jointly carried out the early stages of the work," said the official, predicting that the final plan would be carried out in the first half of next year.

Chen Gang, a Beijing vice major, mentioned the move in September in a government report, saying it was aimed at strengthening urban planning and reducing congestion.

The clothing hub near Beijing Zoo covers 300,000 square meters, including at least 10 clothing wholesale markets, around 13,000 stalls and more than 20 logistics companies. The markets were originally built in the 1980s and see an average of 100,000 customers a day, the report said.

The booming population of local areas caused by the presence of the markets has put great pressure on urban resources and infrastructure, according to a report by the construction headquarters of the Beijing Exhibition Center in Xicheng district in November.

But the move was also tied to Beijing's newly declared efforts to restrict its population. Mayor Wang Anshun said Sunday that Beijing will emphasize the restructuring of industries and upgrading of service industries in a bid to slow down population growth.

Low-end industries like wholesale markets for clothes and building materials will be removed from downtown areas under the new plan.

Zeng Xianzhi, a professor at the Beijing Administrative College, told China Business Journal that the number of migrants brought into the city by the markets might be as many as 1 million.

The effective relocation of low-end industries would be a key factor in untying the Gordian knot of "mega city disease" by shifting the workers attached to the industry, said Zhao Jimin, a research fellow at the Institute of Urban Problems under the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.

Zhao told the Global Times on Tuesday that relocation of public service institutions, including some universities and hospitals will play a crucial role in attracting more industries and people to the suburbs.

The city's population had increased to 20.69 million at the end of 2012 with an average growth of nearly 600,000 people annually, Xinhua reported.