(ECNS) - Beijing’s historic Guanyuan Wholesale Market will shut down permanently at 7 pm on Friday as the capital continues efforts to remove non-capital functions and solve "big city diseases".
The market opened in 1998 and had over 1,000 vendors in a three-floor building covering about 30,000 square meters where clothes, daily necessities, cultural items and sports supplies were sold.
It was the last wholesale market closed in urban Beijing’s Xicheng District, marking the end of an era. Markets already closed include Tianyi last August and Wantong in September as the district says a final farewell to its role as a regional wholesale hub.
Officials in Xicheng said authorities have established 30 life centers in its 15 sub-districts in three years to ensure easy resident access to basic business services.
Beijing has undertaken a slew of measures to strengthen its position as the national center of politics, culture, international exchanges, and scientific and technological innovation, setting goals to control population growth, ease traffic congestion and coordinate growth with neighboring Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province.