BEIJING - Beijing plans to move tens of thousands of downtown residents to the city's suburban districts over the next five years to ease the overcrowded situation.

Dou Shuling, deputy director of the Population and Family Planning Committee of Beijing's Xicheng District, said Monday at a news briefing that 50,000 to 100,000 people in Xicheng district are expected to be relocated.

There are 1.34 million people with registered permanent residence in Xicheng district.

Dou admitted that the relocation work will proceed slowly as many residents are reluctant to leave their homes, despite the fact that many of the homes are in disrepair.

"The district government will conduct a survey to get the residents' opinions on the relocation efforts. For example, we want to know what size they desire for their next home, or how much compensation they would consider to be fair," Dou said.

Dou said the government is encouraging residents to move to newly-built communities in the Daxing and Changping districts.