Government of Beijing has decided not to limit the number of cars in the city in near future, but to improve management on parking lots in downtown and heighten the price of parking gradually.

Liu Xiaoming, deputy director in charge of the city's transportation commission, said the government encourages residents to commute by public transportation facilities.

The city now has 1.09 million legal parking spaces in downtown Beijing, less than the number of cars in the area, which stood at 1.5 million ones.

Liu said the government has planed to improve public transportation facilities to cater to the demand of residents. Before 2008, all the old-fashioned bus will be updated.

By November this year, Beijing has had 2.27 million vehicles.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2004)