Beijing demolishes 194 unauthorized buildings to make city more liveable

Beijing has launched a campaign to improve its urban environment by demolishing unauthorized buildings and strengthening the preservation of its historic sites.

Over the past years, 194 unauthorized buildings measuring over 10,000 square meters have been demolished to improve the city image and make the capital more liveable and tourist-friendly.

A Beijing resident named Li Chunyan said law enforcement officials discussed the issue of illegal construction with them about 20 times. Li gradually understood what the policy was all about and then she realized that building her second floor was a bad idea.

The aerial view of Beijing city.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's earlier inspection tour in Beijing, he said history and culture are the soul of the city and that we need to preserve historical and cultural heritage sites just as we treasure our lives.

Some 470 families in South Luogu Lane, Beijing’s famous Hutong, have volunteered to be relocated to new buildings when the repairs start.

The capital also took a series of measures to prevent sandstorms, including planting trees around the city. Over 780 million square meters of forest were planted. That's 110 times the size of Beijing’s Olympic forest park, increasing the city's forest coverage rate to 42.3 percent.

(CGTN)