Beixinqiao subway station, in east central Beijing, passed structural checks on January 9, the first station on the capital's new No. 5 line to do so.

According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Construction, over 40 billion yuan (US$4.83 billion) has been invested so far in extending the subway system, one tenth of which was spent in 2004.

Beijing began to build its first subway in 1965, the No. 1 line that runs past Tian'anmen Square, almost parallel to Chang'an Boulevard. The No. 2 line, completed in 1984, forms a loop around the center of town.

No. 13 line was put into operation in January 2003 and runs in a horseshoe shape through the northwest and northeast of the city, passing Zhongguancun Science Park, several institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University and Tsinghua University.

In December of the same year, the Bawangfen/Tongzhou line extended the No. 1 line to the east, covering a distance of 19 kilometers.

Construction of the No. 5 line, which runs north to south, began in December 2002. It connects Chongwenmen, Wangfujing, Temple of Heaven, Dongdan and Dongsi downtown districts and the residential area of Fangzhuang. By the end of November 2004, construction on 21 out of its 22 stations had begun.

No. 4 line, another north-south route, is also currently under construction. It goes through Xidan, Xizhimen, Zhongguancun and to the north gate of the Summer Palace. Work on four stations is now underway.

The No. 5 and No. 4 lines are expected to help reduce road traffic and protect historical features by attracting more commuters underground.

No. 10 line will run west to east between the third and the fourth ring-roads to the north of the city center before turning south to the CBD.

No. 8 line will serve Olympic venues, running north from the No. 10 line to the Olympic Games Center, Olympic Park and Olympic Forest Park.

By 2008, Beijing will have a network capable of serving its business, tourism and residential needs -- a subway fit for the capital.

(China.org.cn by Wu Nanlan, January 14, 2005)