A screen grap from the official website of Tongzhou District of Beijing shows the changed title. (Photo/Screenshot)
(ECNS) -- The suburb of Tongzhou in Beijing has quietly changed its name as the capital prepares to move its massive municipal offices away from its downtown area, Beijing News reported.
In an effort to reduce pollution and traffic congestion, Beijing announced it would move the municipal government, including tens of thousands of civil servants, to the eastern district about a 40-minute drive from the city center.
New government documents and speeches by officials omit Tongzhou's previous designation as "subsidiary administrative center" area and instead use "subsidiary municipal center". The official website for the district also changed the name of a column to "Construction of Beijing Municipal Subsidiary Center."
Lu Yan, director of the Beijing Municipal Commission for Development and Reform, also called for "orderly relocation of Beijing's administrative entities to the subsidiary center " in a report by People's Daily on April 5.
The amended title began to replace the previous description in early April, according to the report.
Policy observers say the change in wording may indicate the shifting position of Tongzhou District as Beijing, Tianjin and neighboring Hebei Province push for integration and coordinated development.
The Tongzhou government has not commented on the wording change. But back in 2012, during a meeting of the Communist Party of China, the district vowed to develop itself into Beijing's municipal subsidiary center.
