Tougher parking regulations expected next year

Beijing's lawmakers are planning new regulations to ease the chaos caused in the city by too many vehicles and too few places to park. Strict measures are likely to include the need for residents to buy a parking space before purchasing a new car.

It is expected that current car owners will have to prove they are paying for parking spaces, and parking violations will be punished, according to Vice-Mayor Zhang Yankun in a report on Friday to the Standing Committee of the Beijing People's Congress, the city's top legislature.

A study of the problem will begin this year, and the new regulations are expected to be launched next year, Zhang said.