Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 27 – On September 27, Beijing held a press conference on improving its role as a center for international exchanges. In order to implement the Master Plan of Beijing (2016-2035) and make a forward-looking plan to improve the city's role as a center for international exchanges, the Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources and the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office jointly developed the Specialized Plan for Strengthening Beijing's Role as the Center for International Exchanges, mapping out a spatial pattern of “one core, two axes and multiple sections” for the coming 15 years.
Yang Jun, Deputy Director-General of Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources, said that taking into account the needs for international exchanges in various fields, Beijing would develop a spatial pattern of “one core, two axes and multiple sections” to improve the systems and open up new spaces for international exchanges. Specifically, “One core” refers to the core functional area for state and diplomatic events, which serves as an important window to demonstrate the image of the capital city. The “two axes,” namely the Central Axis and the Chang'an Avenue and its extensions, is the area where most political, economic and cultural international exchanges occur and a typical area that demonstrates the confidence of the Chinese culture and the image of Beijing as China's capital city.
The “multiple sections”, namely the eastern, western, southern and northern areas, serve as places for public and people-to-people diplomacy and important areas that showcase the image and charm of Beijing as an international metropolis in an all-round manner. The eastern area is home to an abundance of high-end international elements. Leveraging this advantage, it aims to be a key area for extensive and dynamic international exchanges that fully demonstrates the image of the capital city. The northern area boasts beautiful scenery, great environment and distinct cultural features and will be developed into a new platform for high-level international exchanges. The western area is home to a host of classic imperial gardens represented by the Summer Palace, a World Cultural Heritage site and a number of prestigious universities and research institutes. Leveraging these resources, the western area will be built into a key area for international exchanges that features the blend of traditional and modern culture and is imbued with innovation and vitality. The southern area centered on the Beijing Daxing International Airport will be developed into an emerging key area for international exchanges along the extension of the southern Central Axis.
The plan also stresses that the city will strengthen the development of public service facilities in communities for foreigners with professional skills and in education, healthcare, epidemic prevention and control and other fields, enhance public health emergency response capabilities in an all-round manner, and build an extensive, efficient and convenient transportation network.
“In the future, with the strategic guidance of the Specialized Plan, we will strive to improve the international appeal of Beijing, tell the true story of the city, and demonstrate the soft power of the Chinese culture while promoting exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations,” said Yang.
According to Yu Haiyong, Deputy Director-General of Beijing Foreign Affairs Office, the Action Plan for Strengthening Beijing's Role as the Center for International Exchanges (2019-2022) was also released, specifying 48 hard infrastructure projects and 30 soft infrastructure tasks as well as the operable timetable and roadmap.
(Reporter: Luo Xin)
