Beijing will continue to accelerate its infrastructure construction this year after launching the building of 67 major projects in 1999, said Liu Qi, the mayor of Beijing.

Addressing the Fifth Session of the Eighth Plenary Meeting of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, Liu said Beijing will continue to increase and improve infrastructure facilities. Attention will be also be paid to the construction of residential houses and the improvement of the city's environment.

Infrastructure plans include the construction of subways, overhead railways, highways, waterworks, sewage plants and garbage disposal plants. Beijing will complete eight million square meters of residential house, said Liu.

With regard to controlling the city's pollution, Liu said that Beijing will implement new regulations for exhaust pipes on motor vehicles and popularize the use of environmentally friendly fuel to improve the city's air quality.