CHINA DAILY SPECIALSUPPLEMENT FRIDAY MARCH 9, 2007 19 cultural circle to emerge Balancing the protection of cultural HIGHLIGHT OF cultural relics protection area Qinian Multi-Cultural Street, sports competitions, the sale were relocated, experts were which lies to the east of the of sports equipment as well relics with better living conditions LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORK REPORT 2007 able to meticulously inspect Front Gate cultural innova- as sports-related leisure and the historical heritage sites and tion industrial area, will see entertainment activities. The government of Chon- sured Watchtower over the Front CHONGWEN , set down individual protection the construction of a series The goal of the park is to form gwen District in Beijing is Gate, the Yongding Gate Tower, programs. of modern buildings such as a sports leisure and entertain- committed to building the and the Zuoan Gate Tower, situ- This practice strikes a bal- luxury hotels, an international ment center, as well as a sports Cultural Circle of the Temple ated to the northeast, northwest, on constructing three areas residents have been moved out ance between protection of auction center and a cultural business exchange center. A of Heaven, in order to develop southwest and southeast corners with distinct industrial func- of the area, while numerous cultural relics and improve- innovation industrial base for sports sector headquarter base the economy while preserv- respectively of the district, form tions – the Front Gate cultural hazardous structures have ment of living conditions, and youngsters. In the southern and a sports R&D (research and ing local characteristics, as a square city pattern. innovation industrial area, the been repaired. has earned high praise from part, an ancient group of build- development) base are also on the capital city advances the Statistics show that there are Longtan Lake sports industrial While improving the living both the municipal government ings, including the Qinian the cards. strategy of “accelerating the 105 historical and cultural rel- park area, and the south-central conditions of local people, the and experts. Park and the second-phase Meanwhile, the south-central development of South Bei- ics in the district, with cultural axes modern commercial area, district government always The principle of balancing construction of Baigong Lane, axes modern commercial area jing” in preparation for the tourism resources occupying Party Secretary of Chongwen gives priority to protecting protection and development will accord a strong historical will be composed of a cloisonné 2008 Olympic Games, said 47.2 percent of its directly us- District Li Xiaoguang said. the historical appearance of will continue to guide the character to the street. cultural corridor and a fashion the 2007 Chongwen govern- able land. The cultural circle will there- Beijing by adhering to three next stage of the renovation The Longtan Lake sports design R&D center. The former ment work report. With the Temple of Heaven fore be able to showcase Beijing “completely” principles, that project in the Front Gate area. industrial park is the fi rst of will rely on the reputation of As one of the central districts as the center, a cultural circle as an ancient capital with mod- is, completely carry out the pro- The construction style of the its kind in the country, devel- cloisonné products made by of old Beijing, Chongwen boasts has taken initial shape in Chon- ern cultural industries. gram of protecting the histori- late (1644-1911) oped on the combined themes Beijing Enamel Plant to forge immense historical and cultur- gwen. The district displays a As many old houses in the cal features of the Xianyukou and early Republic of of sport and leisure. The park a traditional handicraft R&D al resources within its area of unique blend of the traditional Front Gate area have fallen into and Front Gate(Qianmen) areas, (1912-1949) will be resumed will set up the China National base and a cloisonné culture 16.46 square kilometers. and the modern, which accords disrepair over the years, a large completely salvage and protect along the Front Gate avenue, Sports Museum, the Beijing communication base, while the The Temple of Heaven is a a signifi cant character to the number of cultural relics and the existing cultural relics and and a street of stores selling Juvenile Activity Center, the latter will focus on the design, world cultural heritage site lo- cultural circle of the Temple of historical sites scattered in these valuable buildings in the Front long-standing reputed brands Beijing International Sports Ex- establishment and promotion cated at the center of the district Heaven and further enhances residencies are in great peril. Gate area, and completely res- will be built. The infrastruc- change Center, and the Sports of costume brands in the hope and attracts attention from both its appeal. This has prompted the cue the hutongs (lanes, alleys) ture in the area will also be Star Avenue, all in the area of building a trade platform for home and abroad. The Corner government and shops of long standing in modernized. where the General Administra- international brands as well as Tower of the city wall of Ming Three functional areas to launch a large-scale renova- the Front Gate area. According to an initial lay- tion of Sport is situated. Great an industrial base for innova- Dynasty (1368-1644), the Embra- Chongwen District will focus tion project. More than 12,000 After the residents in the out, the northern part of the importance will be attached to tion in costume design.

Making Intensive social face-lift for Chongwen security As an old district of Beijing, Chongwen had a large number a reality of buildings that had become unsafe over the years, so its Chongwen District task of restructuring these will speed up efforts to buildings was more challeng- develop various social ing than that of any other undertakings and make urban district. the social security system Thanks to the great efforts by fully functional, to ensure the local government, the task that local residents live has been largely completed, well-off lives. with the living conditions of Following the guidelines local residents markedly im- of combining independent proved. job hunting and market ad- The Front Gate area reno- justment with govern-ment vation project, for example, assistance, the administra- costs nearly 8 billion yuan, tion aims at the coordina- almost eight times the annual tion of employment with fiscal revenue of the district. economic growth. And the government has de- Some 50,000 jobs will voted painstaking efforts to be created in the next it, contributing considerably fi ve years to keep the re- to the protection of the his- employment rate of the torical appearance of Beijing registered jobless above as an ancient capital city. 70 percent. The per capita urban resi- The district will also is- dential area in Chongwen sue a series of supporting rose from 12.86 square me- policies to help the unem- The Front Gate ters in 2000 to 22.5 square ployed find jobs or start cultural innova- meters in 2005, exceeding business. tion industrial the municipal standard of 20 In addition, a computer- area, a showcase square meters for a well-off based employment man- society. In the next few years, of Beijing as an agement platform will the district will complete ancient capital be set up, dynamically the project of restructuring with modern cul- processing the informa- the rest of the unsafe and tural industries. tion about the needs and old buildings, with a total qualifi cations of the job- The Longtan Lake construction area of 25,000 less as well as the market sports industrial park square meters. demand for them. area, the first of its The district government’s The construction of a kind in the country, is 2007 work report states that a multi-level professional developed on the com- modernized traffi c system will skills training network is bined themes of sport be established with fi ve trunk also high on the govern- and leisure. lines from the south to the north ment agenda, which is ex- and fi ve from the east to the pected to improve overall west. The urban road network labor quality. will be strengthened to greatly Further, a new social The south-central axes mod- improve the traffi c capacity. salvage system is in the ern commercial area will be In keeping with the stan- offi ng, which will link so- composed of a cloisonné cultural dard for a core functional cial assistance and welfare corridor and a fashion design district of Beijing, the Chon- with charity and social and R&D center. gwen government is trying to commercial insurance. increase its operational effi- ciency and service level. Pri- ority will be given to creating a first-class city image, while improving urban ecology and environmental quality. A city image layout will It is boom time in capital’s old district be mapped out for the main streets and established Chongwen District of Beijing capital of 1.38 billion yuan. to remove 297,000 square meters Lake Park and Beijing Ming Dy- great attention to the combi- disposable income last year at residencies in the district. has seen rapid economic growth Others include China National of unauthorized construction, nasty City Wall Relics Park. Its nation of inheritance and in- 20,600 yuan, up 13.1 percent Outdoor advertisements will and considerable success in var- Philatelic Corporation and the considerably improving traffi c urban green coverage rate and novation. While successfully year-on-year. It ranked second be regulated according to a ious social undertakings over Beijing News. fl ow in key areas. per capita green land area are forging some cultural brands, among the districts in terms universal standard. Major the past three years, according Fifty-nine Sino-foreign joint Further, an additional both greater than the other three the district has organized an of per capita deposit during avenues and streets will be to the local government’s 2007 ventures, cooperative business- 598,000 square meters have central districts of Beijing. array of large-scale cultural the same time, with 116,000 built into a landscape of the work report. es and solely foreign-owned been beautifi ed by the planting Chongwen’s outstanding activities, such as the First yuan. district and a batch of health The GDP (gross domestic enterprises have received ap- of trees and grass over the past educational resources have been Hongqiao International Pearl The local government has residencies will also take product) of Chongwen reached proval for operations in Chon- four years. Three large-scale distributed more widely, with Cultural Festival, the First helped 3,035 unemployed shape. 12 billion yuan last year, an av- gwen between 2003 and 2006, green belts have been created educational quality steadily ris- Cross-Straits Cultural Festi- people find jobs within less In addition, the govern- erage rise of 14.5 percent yearly utilizing foreign capital worth and 16 streets have so far been ing. Moreover, the construction val Beijing-Taiwan Cultural than two years. The re-em- ment will accelerate efforts since 2003, while fi scal revenue $213 million, up 75 percent on beautifi ed in this way. of the national sanitary district Forum and the First Beijing ployment rate of the jobless to carry out the 11th Five- grew by 24.7 percent annually an annual average. To date, Chongwen has 15 has been inspected and approved Longtan Cartoon Festival. remains above 70 percent in Year (2006-10) Green Land to 1.351 billion yuan, 1.94 times The district has launched a large public green spaces and by the municipal government. The protection of non-ma- the district, with the regis- System Plan, emphasizing that of 2003. total revamp of the Front Gate fi ve top-quality parks, including In terms of cultural con- terial cultural heritage has tered unemployment rate of the construction of large The past three years have area. The task of renovating the Temple of Heaven, Longtan struction, Chongwen pays always been top priority for urban residents under 2.65 public green areas and seen fi xed assets investment the villages within the city Chongwen. Ivory sculptures, percent. parks, as well as high-class and retail sales of consumer has been completed, and great carved lacquerware, cloisonné Chongwen takes the lead in green belts in residencies, as goods earn 24.4 billion yuan care has been taken to restruc- Facts and fi gures manufacture, and Tongrentang the country in various social well as along the city moat, and 2.5867 trillion yuan re- ture unsafe buildings in key traditional Chinese medicine undertakings, winning laurels railways, Second Ring Road spectively, up 24.5 and 15.3 areas. A series of urban road The GDP of Chongwen reached 12 billion yuan in 2006, an culture have been added to the such as “National Model City and the South-Central Axes percent yearly. Both are above construction projects have also average annual rise of 14.5 percent since 2003. national intangible cultural for Mutual Support between Road. the average fi gures for Beijing. either been completed or are heritage list. the Civilian and Armed Forces” The supervision and Since 2004, a total of 397 cor- underway. Its fi scal revenue grew by 24.7 percent annually over the past Eight heritage items, includ- and “National Advanced Unit management of the clouds porations have set up operations Total area under construction three years to 1.356 billion yuan, 1.94 times that of 2003. ing Beijing jade articles and in Population and Family Plan- of dust at construction sites in Chongwen, 81 of which pos- in Chongwen over the last three Zhonghe Shao Music, are on ning Work”. and the emission of auto tail sess registered capital of more years was 9.64 million square The past three years have seen fi xed assets investments and the municipal list, while 33 The municipal government gas will also be intensified. than 5 million yuan. Among meters, out of which work on retail sales of consumer goods earn 24.4 billion and 2.5867 tril- items, including Beijing Silk last year assessed the 18 Meanwhile, a digital dynamic lion yuan respectively, up 24.5 and 15.3 percent respectively them is the Jinggang Subway 5.02 million square meters has yearly. Both are above the average fi gures for Beijing. Doll manufacture and Old Bei- districts and counties under monitoring system of major Operation Company, the largest already been completed, giv- jing Peddlers’ Cries, have been its jurisdiction in terms of co- pollution sources in the dis- joint venture between a Beijing ing the district a completely Since 2004, a total of 397 corporations have set up opera- added to the district list. ordination between economic trict will ensure that local company and a partner outside new look. tions in Chongwen, 81 of which possess registered capital of Chongwen ranked fourth and social development, and noise levels and air quality the capital in the fi eld of urban The district government has more than 5 million yuan. among the eight urban districts Chongwen District topped the are above the average indices construction, with a registered taken several effective measures of Beijing in terms of per capita list in the index of progress. in Beijing.