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Beijing Faces Daunting Developmental Challenges
Beijing (AFP) Jan 15, 2006 Beijing's mayor on Sunday said China's capital faces daunting developmental and environmental challenges, from rapid population growth to worsening air and water pollution. "There is still too much emphasis on development and not enough on management," Mayor Wang Qishan said in his annual report to the city parliament, posted on the legislature's website. "Solving the problems of traffic congestion and the dirty and messy environment will be a daunting task, and there are still serious problems in industrial safety and the safety of public places." The government needed to better balance economic development with population growth, resource conservation and environmental protection, Wang said, lamenting past failures to do so. "Unemployment pressure is growing, there are still gaps in the social security system," he said. "Properly balancing reform, development and stability has become even more difficult." Wang said the city government would strive to keep Beijing's population at 16 million by 2010, from an estimated permanent population of 15.3 million last year. Previous projections had Beijing's population growing by 1.66 million annually over the coming five years, state press reports have said. "We need to come up with a new philosophy and new measures for managing the floating population and improve services," Wang said. China is undergoing an unprecedented urbanization process which has left a 140 million rural laborers descending on cities in search of economic opportunities. In his annual report to the city parliament, Wang also said the capital's economy grew by 11.8 percent per year from 2001 to 2005, and set out a nine percent growth target for the coming five years. Per capita gross domestic product reached 5,000 dollars last year, he said. Wang also underscored the importance of holding a successful 2008 Beijing Olympics, saying, "We have made a solemn commitment to the world to stage a unique and high level Olympics". "We will be using the resources of the entire city to make proper preparations for the Olympics and Special Olympics ... while keeping in mind the policy of an 'Economical Olympics'."
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Scores Injured As China Police Quell Protest
Beijing (AFP) Jan 15, 2006Scores of protesters were wounded and at least one person was feared dead as hundreds of police in southern China used electric batons and tear gas to quell a land protest, locals said Sunday. |
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