4. We further developed Beijing as the national cultural center, allowing the capital’s culture to flourish through heritage protection and preservation.

We reinforced the protection of the entire old town as we pursued the UNESCO World Heritage status for the Central Axis. The Altar of the God of Land and Grain and the Imperial Ancestral Temple were restored to their original architectural layouts, and the Divine Granary and Qingcheng Palace of the Altar of the God of Agriculture opened to the public. We improved areas around the Bell and Drum Towers and connected all sections of the imperial road at the southern section of the Central Axis, showcasing the city’s grandeur and orderly layout.

We further preserved, inherited, and utilized our historical and cultural heritage. The Grand Canal Cultural and Tourism Scenic Area was awarded the national 5A rating as a tourist attraction, while the construction of the Great Wall Museum of China progressed steadily. We completed the conservation and exhibition project on the Western Han Tombs archaeological site at Dabaotai. All the major revolutionary heritage sites in Beijing and Hebei along the route taken by the Party’s central leadership from Xibaipo to Beijing in 1949 were opened to the public. The Shougang Old Industrial Zone was designated as a national industrial heritage site.

We endeavored to promote the growth of cultural programs and the cultural industry. We accelerated efforts to establish Beijing as a capital of performing arts, hosting 16,000 events under the “Civic Life” series and 57,000 commercial performances. Extended opening hours were piloted in 20 museums, and 15 formally registered museums and 29 quasi-museums were added to the city. Further progress was made in developing Beijing as a “city of readers”, with the number of brick-and-mortar bookstores exceeding 2,100.

We accelerated efforts to establish our city as a prominent host of international sports events. A number of high-level international competitions, including the China Open tennis tournament, were successfully held. Athletes from Beijing delivered exceptional performances at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In addition, 38,000 public sports events were organized, with participation in winter sports exceeding 6.3 million.

5. We dedicated efforts to building a beautiful Beijing, steadily improving the environment.

We were resolute in combating air pollution. The number of new energy vehicles in use in Beijing surpassed one million, and green power accounted for 26% of our total electricity consumption. Over 2,000 enterprises enhanced their control of pollutants like volatile organic compounds (VOCs). We strengthened regional collaboration in pollution prevention and control, intensified actions aimed at combating pollution during autumn and winter seasons, and successfully curbed the resurgence of fine particulate matter concentration.

We further restored water and soil ecosystems. The urban and rural sewage treatment rate reached 97.5%. Through sustained efforts, all black, malodorous water bodies were eradicated, and no water bodies were classified below Class V. In the national surface water assessment, the proportion of Beijing’s water body cross-sections rated as good or excellent quality exceeded the national target. We intensified efforts to control soil pollution risks and restore polluted soil, reducing 100,000 square meters of contaminated construction land.

We continued to improve the quality of the urban environment. As we consolidated and expanded the success of establishing Beijing as a whole-jurisdiction forest city, an additional 10,000 mu (667 hectares) of afforestation and greening were completed. Beijing was recognized as one of the global Biodiversity Charming Cities. We also upgraded and expanded the city’s parks. With 35 new parks opened, the total number of parks in Beijing was brought to 1,100, two thirds of which have been transformed into open, fence-free parks. In addition, we designed and rolled out a dedicated plan for developing Beijing into a garden city. An extra 500 kilometers of city greenways were added, and the 80-kilometer greenway along the Second Ring was fully connected. We expanded green spaces and introduced diverse flora to bring vibrant colors to 20 neighborhoods, 300 overpasses, and 100 landscape corridors.

We advanced the renewed 100+1,000 village program9 in successive phases to build more model villages and clusters. We remodeled 3,100 residential courtyards to meet the “beautiful courtyards” standards for neatness and beauty, and completed the clean heating retrofitting for 13,000 rural households, further improving rural living environments. Through these efforts, the countryside has become increasingly attractive for people to live in.

Notes：

[9]This refers to a program that draws inspiration from the Green Rural Revival Program and seeks to build on the successes of the previous “model villages” program. While the initial round focused primarily on improving the residential environment, this new round of the program has taken a holistic approach for the revitalization of rural areas. About 100 villages will be selected as models for rural revival, and roughly 1,000 villages are expected to undergo significant transformations in the next few years.

6. We implemented concrete and well-considered measures to bring greater benefits to our people.

We promoted high-quality and full employment. Ten programs were implemented to help college graduates find jobs and start businesses. Employment service platforms including the Majuqiao Casual Labor Market were built or upgraded. As a result, a total of 299,000 urban jobs were added. We increased the quality of education and improved the balanced distribution of educational resources. Committed to strengthening childcare services for the youngest children10, we added almost 19,000 affordable nursery care slots. The kindergarten enrollment rate and the coverage of affordable kindergartens both reached 93%. In response to the peaking of school-age population, we have implemented targeted measures to improve the supply of education resources. Around 39,000 places were added in primary and middle schools. The admission rate for higher education remained stable. Breaktime between classes in compulsory education schools was extended to 15 minutes to better support the students’ healthy growth.

We advanced the Healthy Beijing initiative. Nine tightly-knit urban healthcare consortia were formed. The city’s unified platform for booking outpatient appointments was extended to all Grade II medical institutions and above. The appointment-based referral system for community-level health services now covers all community health centers. Over 50% of village-level clinics were incorporated into the management framework of township-level public medical centers. The health information platform has yielded tangible results, as 181 lab test results and 300 examination results are now mutually recognized and shared among Beijing’s medical institutions. We improved services for the care of the elderly. An additional 105 eldercare service centers at the sub-district/township level were set up and 240 rural neighborhood eldercare sites featuring mutual help were opened. Another 9,829 home-based care beds for senior citizens were added. A total of 876 lifts were installed in old residential buildings. Our support initiatives for the oldest old11 benefited over 800,000 seniors, including those aged 80 and above and those with physical or mental impairments.

We strengthened the provision of social security. The reform to gradually raise the statutory retirement age continued. The standards for social security benefits and subsistence allowances were increased. We extended occupational injury insurance to approximately one million people in new forms of employment. Social programs for women and children have made significant progress. Beijing leads the country in multiple indicators, including the coverage rate of basic rehabilitation services for people with disabilities.

We steadily improved public mobility infrastructure. With the opening of the first phase of Subway Line 3, Subway Line 12, and the first phase of southward extension of the Changping Line, the operating length of the city’s subway network increased by 43 kilometers to a total of 879 kilometers. We optimized 143 bus routes and introduced 352 dedicated shuttle lines for school commutes, medical visits and tourism services. Now, 88% of transfers between buses and rail are within 50 meters. We improved transport conditions in key areas, completing the construction of the transportation hubs supporting Beijing Chaoyang Railway Station and Beijing Fengtai Railway Station. Ongoing efforts were made to phase out non-compliant electric tricycles and quadricycles from the roads. All traffic signals within the Fifth Ring Road and the BMC were connected online, narrowing the peak-hour traffic index in the city’s central area from 6.32 to 6.08.

Urban renewal projects were carried out. In the city’s core zone, application-based voluntary lease termination was completed for 2,008 households in single-story dwellings. We initiated the renovation of 742 run-down residential compounds and completed 548 of such projects. The retrofitting of old and dilapidated buildings and the clearance of sub-standard housing encompassed a total area of 206,000 square meters. We upgraded 71 old factory workshops. Furthermore, 247 kilometers of road guardrails were removed, and the environment of spaces under 49 overpasses, including the Guomao Bridge, was improved. Consistent efforts were made to address the two “critical minor details”12. Progress in waste sorting was consolidated, with 57,000 waste-sorting bin stations standardized and 11 kitchen waste processing facilities upgraded to enable direct disposal of bagged waste, relieving the trouble for residents to manually empty the bags. The city’s recycling rate of municipal solid waste was raised to over 40%. We strengthened targeted efforts to address property management issues in residential communities facing the most prominent problems, and completed 100 model projects. As a result, more residents can now enjoy professional property management services.

Notes：

[10]They refer to infants and toddlers under the age of three.

[11]The oldest old refer to elderly individuals aged 80 and above. Those under 80, who are living with physical or cognitive impairments, are also eligible for supportive policies designed for the oldest old.

[12]The two critical minor details refer to waste sorting and property management.

7. We ensured both development and security, providing a more robust safeguard for the capital.

Efforts were redoubled to ensure workplace safety. To minimize the incidence of accidents and the resulting losses, we strictly implemented the “three musts” principle13 in safety management. We advanced eight action plans to address the root causes of workplace accidents and refined the whole-process supervision mechanism for gas, electric bikes, and other areas to safeguard against risks. We implemented stricter “red-line” measures, including the prohibition of business operations during construction and the ban on electric bikes entering buildings. We enforced measures to ensure that every structure has two or more independent escape routes and cleared 32,000 evacuation routes and emergency exits. Now, over 90% of rural self-built structures for commercial use meet the requirement for having both fire access passages and evacuation routes. Workplace-related fatal accidents and deaths fell by 24.7% and 28.2% respectively.

Disaster prevention and mitigation capacity was further developed. Beijing took the lead in initiating a spatial layout plan for building a resilient city and advanced all-round post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. A total of 168 projects aimed at achieving basic recovery within one year were actioned as scheduled, while 344 projects targeting comprehensive improvement within three years were launched. We established a mechanism for addressing disasters, covering cross-departmental joint monitoring and relief, call-response pre-disaster warnings, and catastrophe response. As a result, we navigated the flood season smoothly despite a 60% surge in rainfall compared to the average level and experienced zero occurrence of forest fires during this year’s forest protection period. Safety and security were effectively maintained in Beijing. We strengthened risk prevention in key locations and throughout areas of social activity, ensured that public complaints were handled in strict accordance with the law, and prevented extreme incidents from happening. We took prudent steps to defuse financial risks and properly managed risks for key businesses. Whole-process safety supervision was tightened for food and drugs, with the pass rate for sampling inspections of both food and pharmaceuticals exceeding 99%.

We provided strong support to the development of national defense and armed forces, made further progress with military-civilian integration, and strengthened work related to national defense mobilization. The quality and efficiency of civil air defense were raised. Better services and benefits were provided to ex-service members. We also achieved significant progress in ethnic affairs, religious affairs, and overseas Chinese-related work.

Over the past year, we have consolidated and expanded the results of theoretical study initiatives. We have carried out education programs on Party discipline. We have worked consistently to improve the government’s own capabilities, striving to build a service-oriented government that meets people’s expectations. We, in compliance with the law, have subjected the government to the close scrutiny of the Municipal People’s Congress and its standing committee and placed our work under the oversight of the Municipal CPPCC Committee. A total of seven local regulations were submitted to the Municipal People’s Congress for deliberation, and four regulations were formulated, revised, or abolished. We processed four motions and 880 suggestions raised by deputies to the Municipal People’s Congress and 1,279 proposals made by Municipal CPPCC Committee members.

Municipal-level institutional reform was completed. We applied performance-based budgeting to all expenses and issued a negative list out of the need for practicing economy. Spending on official overseas visits, vehicles, and hospitality was reduced by 4%. We fully implemented the regulations and measures of the CPC Central Committee and Beijing Municipal Committee on easing the administrative burden on those working at the grassroots, cutting the number of items for oversight, inspection, and evaluation by nearly 20%. Various forms of oversight, including fiscal, accounting, and statistical, were further coordinated. Both government auditing and internal auditing were strengthened. We rectified problems exposed in the inspections of the Central Environmental Protection Inspection Team and those in the planning and natural resources sectors. Targeted actions were taken to address misconduct and corruption pertinent to the people’s everyday life. We enhanced the implementation of the eighth five-year plan for increasing public knowledge of the law, to ensure that the laws are respected, understood, observed and effectively applied.

Notes：

[13]The “three musts” principle refers to a principle stipulated by China’s law on production safety, clarifying the safety production responsibilities of relevant parties. It mandates that government departments responsible for industry regulation must oversee safety production work within their respective sectors and fields. At the same time, enterprise decision-makers and managers in charge of business development must oversee safety, and those responsible for production and operations must also oversee safety.