CBD set to double in size by 2017

Beijing's Central Business District will double in size over the next eight years in a bold new plan that may involve the relocation of 10,000 households in one of city's most densely populated residential areas.

According to the proposed government plan released Saturday, a 3-sq km expansion, from the East Third Ring Road near Guomao to the Fourth Ring Road near Sihui Bridge, will be completed in the next six to eight years.

Plans to expand Beijing's Central Business District will be on display  from today.

It will attract more major multinational corporations and create as many as 100,000 new jobs.

Although the cost for the project is unknown, the Chaoyang district government, which is overseeing the expansion, is keen to turn more residential areas into commercially successful headquarters for some of the world's largest multinational corporations.

"About 85 percent of the current CBD area has been taken by companies," said Wu Guiying, executive vice-governor of the Chaoyang district and director of the CBD administrative committee.

"The area is eager for more capacity to hold more business opportunities," she said, ahead of a seminar on Beijing's CBD expansion, which begins today.

The world's leading architects have completed seven preliminary CBD expansion designs including SOM Architect and KFP Architect from the US, and ADPi Company from France. The plans will be displayed to the public during a six-day CBD International Business Festival.