(file photo)

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning (BMCUP) announced on March 28 that it has finished compiling the city’s overall plan from 2016 to 2030. Public opinion on the draft will be solicited from March 29 to April 27.

According to the draft, Beijing's permanent residents will number fewer than 23 million by 2020, and that number will be maintained in the long term. The Beijing government will also work to optimize the population structure, improve population quality and actively respond to the aging problem.

The draft states that by 2030, the city’s forest coverage rate will be above 45 percent and the green commuting ratio will be above 80 percent. Urban rail lines are also scheduled to expand to 1,000 kilometers by that time. In terms of air quality, the city’s annual average concentration of fine particulate matter PM 2.5 will be around 56 micrograms per cubic meter in 2020, and will meet the national standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter by 2030.