Beijing to invest more in suburban area 

     The Beijing municipal government will for the first time invest more in construction in the suburban area than in the urban area this year, a senior official said on Monday.

    Ding Xiangyang, director of the city's development and reform commission, said 51 percent of the planned investment will go to the suburban area with the remaining 49 percent to the urban area this year.

    Priority will be given to projects to improve the urban traffic system, suburban infrastructure facilities and public service facilities, to help save energy and protect the environment, and to boost the transformation of old residential quarters and areas for cultural heritage protection, said the official.

    The investment management system will also be improved, he added.

    The decision of the Beijing municipal government followed the call of the central government for nationwide endeavor to build a new countryside in the country, according to local observers.