Beijing steps up traffic restrictions for Apec summit

Beijing will restrict non-local cars from entering the capital during the Apec summit, municipal traffic authorities have said.

From Monday until November 12, the odd-even licence plate restriction on cars registered in the city will be extended to other vehicles which want to enter the capital, the Economic Daily reported on Thursday.

The municipal government announced earlier this month that the odd-even scheme would apply to local private cars from November 3-12 in an attempt to ease traffic and reduce smog during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Now cars from other cities and provinces will also be covered by the scheme, which bans vehicles from entering the area within – and including – the fifth ring road from 7am to 9am and from 5pm to 8 pm on alternate weekdays, according to whether the last digit of their licence plate is odd or even.

Beijing is one of very few cities to possess multiple ring roads, which circle the city from the centre to the outskirts. It currently has six ring roads and construction of the seventh one is due to start next year.

Over the same period, trucks transporting sand and dangerous chemicals, as well as vehicles which failed to reach the Euro I emission standards will be banned from all roads within the Beijing municipality. Three-wheeled automobiles, motorbikes, freight trucks and tractors cannot enter the area within – and including – the sixth ring road and cannot enter Huairou district, where President Xi Jinping will meet Apec leaders on November 10 and 11.

The odd-even licence plate scheme will not apply to vehicles delivering mail, vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, livestock and poultry to the capital. However, these vehicles still need to apply for permits to enter Beijing as normal. Except for postal vehicles, such vehicles are not allowed to enter the area within the sixth ring road from 6am to midnight.