BEIJING - The Chinese capital will invest a whopping 74.1 billion yuan (11.8 billion US dollars) this year to develop its relatively underdeveloped southern suburbs.

The money will be spent on 121 projects of infrastructure, social welfare, and industrial development, the Beijing municipal government said Wednesday.

Last year, Beijing invested 191 billion yuan developing the southern suburbs.

Heavy investment in recent years has turned the city's eastern areas into a bustling center of commerce while remaking northern Beijing into a high-tech and educational zone, with high concentrations of universities and scientific research institutes.

In 2010 the city authorities decided to boost the development of its southern suburbs as the city of more than 20 million people continues to expand.

Beijing plans to build a new airport in the southern suburbs in the district of Daxing bordering Hebei Province, which is expected to spur the area's development.