Big city diseases should be cured one at a time
大城市病应该逐一治愈
China has nearly 20 cities with a population of more than 10 million, with Chongqing, Shanghai and Beijing being the top three — each has more than 20 million residents. However, China's urbanization rate is only about 67 percent, which means nearly 500 million people still live and work in rural areas.
中国有近20个人口超过1000万的城市，其中重庆、上海和北京位列前三，人口均超过2000万。然而，中国的城镇化率仅为67%左右，这意味着仍有近5亿人在农村生活和工作。
The government is pursuing urbanization to ensure the rural population leads a better life. China's urbanization rate had been increasing by about 1 percentage point a year for the past few decades, with even cities with a population of more than 10 million being required to open their doors wider to rural migrants. Only Beijing and Shanghai have been exceptions. The shortage of resources, and increasing traffic jams and pollution have prompted the two cities to strengthen city regulations.
政府正在推进城镇化以确保农村人口过上更好的生活。过去几十年来，中国的城镇化率每年提高约1个百分点，甚至人口超过1000万的城市也被要求向农村移民敞开大门。只有北京和上海例外，资源短缺、交通拥堵和污染加剧促使这两座城市加强了城市监管。
Besides , reports say nearly 70 percent of the water consumed by Beijing residents is diverted from southern China through a number of channels, and the 7.54 million vehicles in Beijing are causing massive traffic jams while rising human activities are harming the local environment and increasing air pollution.
此外，有报告称，北京居民消耗的水有近70%是通过不同线路从华南地区调来的，北京754万辆汽车造成了严重的交通拥堵，而人类活动的增加也损害了当地的环境，加剧了空气污染。
To treat the big city diseases, a decision was made about 10 years ago to move some non-capital functions out of urban Beijing. A modern sub-center has been built in eastern Beijing to accommodate local municipal departments and institutions, and by the end of last year some 30,000 municipal staff members had been moved there.
为了治疗大城市病，大约10年前北京就做出了将部分非首都功能迁出城区的决定。北京东部建成了现代化的城市副中心以容纳地方市政部门和机构，截至去年底，已有约3万名市政工作人员转移到那里。
Besides , a new city, Xiong'an New Area, about 100 kilometers south of Beijing is being built to accommodate the headquarters of big companies, branches of universities, research institutions and other organizations, and house about 1 million people in the early stage. Over the past decade, more than 1,000 logistics centers and wholesale-cum-retail markets have been moved out of Beijing, including the well-known Zoo Wholesale Market, whose original sit e has been turned into a scientific innovation center.
此外，位于北京以南约100公里的雄安新区正在建设中，以容纳大公司总部、大学分支机构、研究机构等机构，建立初期可容纳约100万人口。近十年来，已有1000多个物流中心和批发零售市场迁出北京，其中包括著名的动物园批发市场，其原址已改造成科创中心。
These measures have worked because Beijing has managed to keep its population at 21 million for some years. In fact, the moves to relocate non-capital functions out of Beijing, along with other measures such as building more subways and encouraging the use of electric cars, have eased the city's traffic problem and improved its air quality. But now that other cities are luring talents with preferential policies, the capital should try to maintain its luster by introducing more policies that are attractive to both domestic and overseas talents.
这些措施之所以奏效，是因为北京多年来一直设法将人口保持在2100万。事实上，非首都功能迁出北京的举措，加上修建更多地铁、鼓励使用电动汽车等其他措施，已经缓解了北京的交通问题并改善了空气质量。但在其他城市纷纷出台优惠政策吸引人才的情况下，首都应该出台更多吸引国内外人才的政策来保持自己的吸引力。
Having lived in Beijing for more than four decades and being used to the hustle and bustle of the city, I cannot afford to imagine a day when I, as an old man, am walking alone in a street, trying to find someone to ask my way back home. This is something I actually experienced in the Australian capital of Canberra. I hope that doesn't happen in Beijing.
我在北京生活了四十多年，习惯了城市的喧嚣，无法想象有一天当我老了，独自走在大街上，还需要找人问路才能回家。这是我在澳大利亚首都堪培拉真实经历过的事情，希望北京不要发生这样的事。
