"Keeping in view the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders' meeting in October and planned bid for the Winter Olympics 2020, Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun said the authorities would step up anti-terrorism efforts in the wake of October's deadly car explosion in Tiananmen Square. This will include regulating the internet more closely. Speaking at the opening of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, Mayor Wang Anshun added that the government would also launch "special rectification campaigns" to prevent major incidents. Li Wei, an anti-terrorism expert at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said the decision to keep a closer eye on the internet was largely prompted by the October 28 car attack in Tiananmen Square. He said though "such incidents don't happen very often, each instance makes a huge social impact". "Radical thoughts are spread through the mobile internet, and are posing a more serious threat to society," Li said.

The Mayor disclosed also that Beijing would remove 180,000 old vehicles from its roads, and that measures would be taken to slow the growth in the number of permanent residents in the capital. Budgets for official hospitality, purchases of official cars and official overseas visits would be cut by more than 12 per cent this year. Economic growth would be about 7.5 per cent, compared with 7.6 per cent last year." (SCMP)