A stab at traffic jams

The Beijing municipal government's decision to significantly raise car-parking fees in the downtown area since April 1 is a welcome step to prevent the city's traffic conditions from worsening amid the latest binge to buy cars.

That may come as an unhappy surprise to domestic automakers who have just revised their production and sales plans for the year after China's car sales soared by about one-third last year.

But the municipal government should not allow the auto industry's desire to sell cars stand in its way of tackling the city's increasing traffic jams.