From Nov. 1 to 5 when Beijing gathered delegations from 48 African countries for the just- concluded landmark summit, about 40 percent of commuters took public transport including buses and subways in the Chinese capital, compared with just 29 percent at other times.

Liu Xiaoming, deputy director of the municipal traffic and transportation administration committee, made the remarks here Monday at a press conference.

So as to prepare for the highest-profile Beijing Summit of the Forum on the China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) over the weekend, the city launched a voluntary campaign to encourage people not to drive.

Local figures show more than 400,000 people signed a pledge not to drive during the summit, and 64.19 million citizens took subways and buses.

A total of 662,000 buses and 8,145 subway trains have been in operation in the past five days, up 10 percent and 20 percent from usual time.

"During the summit period, the urban traffic in Beijing was operating in an order and smooth way, and these measures were welcomed by Beijing citizens," said Liu at the conference.

Beijing may regularize these temporary measures in the future to urge more people to take public transport, according to the conference.

Source: Xinhua