Beijing will improve infrastructure construction and public services in its suburban areas during the 13th Five-Year-Plan period (2016-20), helping the capital manage its large population.

The municipal government released an urban-rural integration plan on Monday, which says that the development of Beijing's suburban and rural areas is the key for relieving the pressure of the city's population.

Beijing will accelerate the construction of suburban areas, improving services for education, employment, health, sports and culture to move some city functions away from the downtown center.

Sun Wenkai, director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Rural Affairs, said during a news conference that it's urgent to improve the development of suburban areas in Beijing.

"The capital will build a group of towns with various functions for people from the city to travel or work," he said. "It will improve ecological economic development in rural areas and raise local people's incomes."

Sun Jiuwen, a professor in the School of Economics at Renmin University of China, whose research interests are regional economy and sustainable urban development, said dispersing the population and city functions throughout Beijing will bring huge development opportunities to suburban areas.

"The integration of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei will become a key task during the 13th Five-Year-Plan period and even beyond that, which means suburban areas will take some functions from Beijing, including science and cultural development, education and medical care, as well as high-tech industrial growth.

For a cleaner city, the government has been promoting clean energy use in rural areas, he said.

Su Weidong, deputy head of the commission, said coal use for cooking and heating will be changed to natural gas in all 3,000 or so villages in Beijing by the end of 2020 to create a better environment.

dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn