Beijing vows to beat looming problems to be a top-class city

Authorities vowed to tackle the mounting challenges that threaten the capital's sustainable development, with population growth, traffic and environmental woes high on Beijing's agenda in the next five years.

Speaking at the opening of the annual municipal People's Congress yesterday, Mayor Guo Jinlong said the municipality's ambition to become a liveable world-class metropolis in the next decade would largely hinge on the government's ability to break constraints on energy and conservation.

Despite the much-touted success in hosting the 2008 Olympics and the dazzling infrastructure boom over the past few years, he admitted the municipality's development was still 'unbalanced, unco-ordinated and unsustainable'.

'Bottlenecks posed by limited resources, energy and the environment have been exacerbated, with mounting pressure and challenges on improving energy efficiency and curbing pollution,' Guo said in his annual report.

Population control gained unusual prominence in the report as well as his government's 12th five-year plan for 2011-15, which has been tabled for deliberation and approval at the week-long gathering.

'Rapid population overgrowth posed severe challenges to the allocation of scarce resources, environmental capacity, public service and urban management,' said the plan, which set out a comprehensive blueprint and specific goals for the city's overall development in the next five years.