An administrative shift for the better

Beijing is expected to make substantial progress by 2017 in transferring its departments in charge of political and cultural functions to Tongzhou district, its new "subsidiary administrative center".

Along with the municipal government, the Beijing municipal committee of the Communist Party of China, the people's congress of Beijing, the Beijing municipal committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and about 400,000 State employees are expected to be relocated to the city's Tongzhou district. Li Shixiang, vice-mayor of Beijing, released the relocation timetable earlier this month.

As Beijing's non-capital functions will be relocated to the new administrative center, in order to rid it of the "urban disease", the move is being closely watched by observers. Of course, the shift has been necessitated for certain reasons.