China's fast-growing rural market is fuelling the country's economy with record growth in 2009, driven by farmers' rising incomes and a slew of stimulus policies.
Growth in rural consumption expanded around 15.5 percent in 2009 and outpaced that in urban areas (15.2 percent) for the first time, said the Ministry of Commerce on Friday.
The total amount of rural consumption is estimated at 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion), the ministry said.
The growth is partly driven by the government's stimulus policies. To expand domestic consumption, early last year, the government launched a series of incentives for farmers ranging from purchases of agricultural machinery to home appliances and electronics.
However, the root cause of the growth can be attributed to the rising income of Chinese farmers, said Xu Xiaoqing, a rural economics expert of the Development Research Center of the State Council.
Read more: Record rural consumption fuels economic expansion
A top Chaoyang district official said Tuesday the government plans to have a 400-m or even taller skyscraper in the upcoming eastward expansion of its central business district (CBD).
The new landmark, which will become Beijing's tallest architecture if built, will become a new icon of Beijing's booming role as a global business harbor, said Cheng Lianyuan, governor of the Chaoyang district where the lucrative CBD is located.
Beijing's current tallest building is the 330-m, 74-story China World Trade Center III, located in Guomao. The newly built and currently empty tower, which will be put into use later this year, is the center of current CBD area.
But not anymore, said the official.
"I would not be surprised if we have a tower at 400 m or more in height," Cheng briefed reporters on the giant CBD expansion project on the sidelines of the district's annual legislative meeting Tuesday.
"Personally, I would not approve anything below that height," he said.
It is unknown who will build or own the planned skyscraper, as the district government still awaits the municipal government's approval of its detailed CBD expansion plan, but the municipal government is set to approve or reject the plan by mid next month before the lunar New Year celebrations, the official said Tuesday.
As China became the largest car market in the world, there is growing need for design education, research and execution to produce automobiles that are appealing to Chinese consumers.
A number of schools are opening that focus on transportation design, including a transportation design center at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. In April, an awards ceremony for the Car Design Awards China 2010 will be held in the capital prior to the opening of Auto China 2010.
More designers are moving to China from overseas to focus on the burgeoning car market here, said Rudy Wimmer, managing partner of China Bridge International, a design strategy consulting firm.
"Car companies are learning tough lessons here in China about the demands consumers have for design," Wimmer said. "You have a new market with many more choices and a very immature consumer."
Wimmer's company, along with other design institutes, tries to understand the demographics of Chinese car buyers. Subtle details, ranging from the shape of a headlight to the material covering a steering wheel, can determine whether or not a Chinese consumer will want to purchase a certain model, Wimmer said.
Read more: International car designers cater to Chinese tastes
People living in historic hutong areas are furious about a plan to ban parking in their neighborhoods.
The residents want to continue to park outside their courtyard homes, instead of parking vehicles - as the plan demands - in parking lots outside the hutong areas.
The district authority in Dongcheng recently shared its draft plan, which calls for parking lots to be built for the 60,000 vehicles currently being parked in 500 hutongs each night. The local government says the large number of vehicles in the narrow streets causes congestion in the 17 historic areas in Dongcheng district.
"With the number of vehicles in Beijing passing four million last month, the municipal government has called on each district to provide more traffic facilities to support the fast growth," said a senior official surnamed Yang with the static state traffic department in Dongcheng district government.
Yang said hutongs, many of which were built hundreds of years ago, were never meant to cope with cars but are currently choked with parked vehicles.
"It makes the narrow paths in the hutong area more crowded and fire vehicles are not able to drive through if there is a fire," he said.
Read more: Beijing Hutong residents want park their car near their homes
Ten months after buying a new bike, Wang Zhi gave up and put his gleaming ride up for sale.
"I might get hit cycling on the crowded roads if I keep it," the 24-year-old housing agent said as he put his 260-yuan bike up for auction on Monday.
"No roads in Beijing seem to have been built for cyclists."
In the decades since the heyday of the bicycle, the capital's streets have become increasingly choked with vehicles.
Now, in an effort to get people back in the saddle again, the local government has begun an ambitious plan to return byways to eco-friendly cycle routes.
The plan was outlined in a directive on Jan 1 from the municipal reform and development commission, which supervises the city's industries.
The plan calls for better law enforcement to make sure designated bike lanes are only used by cyclists. Bike rental facilities will also be resurrected, with at least 500 stations set to be run by a private enterprise by next year, according to the directive.
Read more: Beijing to revise traffic rules to protect rights of cyclists under flood of new cars
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