This is Beijing-Beijing English blog

Beijing will not restrict the purchase of private cars, as was purposed by residents, to help ease traffic jams and stem pollution, a senior official said on Wednesday.

City authorities will not limit the number of license plates issued to reduce car purchases, said Wang Haiping, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform at a press conference.

He said it would be an irresponsible move while China is trying to boost domestic consumption to offset impacts from the global financial crisis.

Instead, city authorities would rely on boosting construction of the urban mass transit system and other forms of public transport to solve Beijing’s traffic issues, he said.

This week is the first week of the new Beijing traffic measures: cars whose number plates end with 1 or 6 will be taken of roads on Mondy, while those ending with 2 or 7 will be banned on Tuesday, 3 or 8 on Wednesday, 4 or 9 on Thusday and 5 or 0 on Friday. The ban does not apply on weekends.

In the last five days, Beijing traffic reduced to 30% because of the new measures. And the most effective area is the fourth ring road.

The new trstriction will be implemented on a trial basis for six months until Apri 10, but does not apply to police wagons, ambulances, fire engines, taxies and other public service vehicles.

Violators will be fined 100 yuan.

[#3: Edit Options>MightyAdsense>Adsense Code]

Today is the first day after the city’s two-month alternating odd-even license plate system for the Olympic Games ended.

According the official, Beijing would see more challenge after the end of the “odd-even” system which took effective on July 20 and aimed at cut air pollution and jammed traffic during the Games

The reason for the traffic challenge are as below: first, the increase of the automobile, second, the coming Nationl holiday next week.

Thirty-eight new measures will be taken by the municipal administrations, including an emergency plan for the first rush hours on Monday.

The cooperation between traffic administrations and other related offices such as observatory and environmental sanitation administrations would be continued in the post-Olympic times, said Zhang Jingchun, spokesman of the Traffic Management Bureau.