Beijing is rebuilding an old Catholic church to serve the city's Christian believers, a priest of the Beijing Catholic diocese said yesterday.

Restoration work on the Changxindian church in the southwest district of Fengtai began on January 6 and will cost about 11 million yuan (US$1.6 million), Zhao Qinglong said. Work is scheduled for completion at the end of this year. The original church was built in 1911 by a French abbot. It was shut and used as a warehouse in the 1950s.