Beijing's planning authority is set to include 70 percent of the city into a ecological protection red line, as highlighted in a future construction plan currently under revision.

Wang Fei, deputy director of the Beijing municipal planning commission, revealed that the new initiative would focus on eco-conservation and curbing city expansion in a bid to fight mega-city headaches like congestion and pollution. The new plan will set rigid lines among areas for eco-protection, concentrated construction and limited construction with different management policies.

Wang said new projects irrelevant to eco-protection will be strictly banned in the conservation area. Construction will mainly take place in some 16 percent of Beijing with a focus on public service and transportation projects. The remaining space, mainly outskirts and rural areas, will be labeled as limited construction areas.

Meanwhile, Beijing is improving its city pattern featuring a central area and satellite clusters. Two green belts will be planted to separate these functional areas with the first within the 4th ring road and the second within the 6th ring road.