City hoping to break gridlock

Beijing government is planning to bring in incentives, including raising car-parking fees in the downtown area, in a bid to ease congestion.

Zhao Lei, a member of Beijing municipal commission of development and reform, said at a press conference yesterday the government has been evaluating plans to deal with the increasing challenges faced by a city that has 4 million cars and more than 20 million residents.

He said the plan to hike car-parking fees will be put into place later this year, but details are still being worked out.