Beijing’s traffic restrictions for the Apec forum next week have brought clear skies to the Chinese capital, but the summit is also expected to widely impact the daily lives of its 12 million residents. Wedding registries and passport application centres throughout the cities remain closed between November 7 and 12, according to notices by the Beijing municipal government. The Beijing Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce said it will also suspend new company registrations during the summit. Schools and kindergartens are closed. Private companies have not been instructed to grant leave to employees, the Beijing municipal government said, refuting earlier reports that circulated online. Some employers have, however, decided to offer vacation days amid a wide-ranging set of traffic restrictions: Half of the city’s cars have been ordered off its roads during the summit. The city’s subway operators said they expect 1.2 million more travellers to use the already clogged network, adding that rush hour services would be extended. The city has also banned tricycles, popular among delivery companies, from its streets during the summit. This comes ahead of the traditional peak shopping period around November 11, also known as Single’s Day. Delivery of goods sold on retailers, including leading online platforms Taobao and JD.com, could be impacted by traffic restrictions as most urban delivery companies rely on tricycles or delivery vans. Milk delivery at dairy producer Sanyuan Foods’ approximately 500 delivery stations throughout the city could not be guaranteed, a company spokeswoman said. “If you want daily milk delivery, just wait until APEC’s over,” she said. A manager of the company’s milk delivery station at Balizhuang in western Beijing said his station will not deliver milk until the end of the international summit. Deliveries in the Huairou and Miyun districts on the city’s outskirts were also suspended. Some residents appear to have planned in advance to flee the anticipated congestion on public transport routes. Dongcheng District’s passport issuing office said it had to handle hundreds more passport applications per day on average in the weeks preceding the summit, the Beijing Youth Daily reported. On October 18, more than 2,300 people applied for a passport at the office, compared to an average rate of 1,200 per day.
