20,000 rural residents to be relocated by 2013

Beijing plans to relocate 20,972 rural residents from mountainous areas in the city's outskirts to plain areas or towns by 2013. The move is an attempt to improve the living conditions of the people and the environment, CRI writes.

A total of 8,557 rural households in seven areas including Fangshan, Mentougou, Miyun and Yanqing will be moved to more hospitable terrain, according to Municipal Rural Affairs Committee director Wang Xiaodong.

The first phase of the relocations will be implemented this year, touching 2,173 households with a total of 5,165 people, Wang said on Thursday. Each person will receive a relocation subsidy of 13,000 yuan or 1,200 euros, he told CRI.

Between 2004 and 2007, Beijing relocated over 30,000 people, providing farmers with more secure homes and better living conditions, CRI writes.

Currently about 36,000 people around the capital live in areas prone to land- and mudslides, and in extremely poor environmental conditions, CRI says.