The municipal government of Beijing has introduced new financing models to develop its metro and intercity transportation system.

The Chinese capital is currently building 20 metro lines across the city and six railways linking Beijing with nearby cities Zhangjiakou and Tangshan. The projects will cost approximately tens of billions of yuan.

The municipal government of Beijing introduced an ABO model (Authorize-Build-Operate) last year to finance the construction of the transport system, the first among Chinese cities to do so. The municipal government authorized Beijing Infrastructure Investment Co., Ltd. (BII) to bear responsibility for building Beijing’s rail transit system.

Based on the agreement, the municipal government each year earmarks 29.5 billion yuan—about 40 percent of the total construction funds—to BII, while BII is responsible for the remaining funds.

BII has raised capital by bond financing, equity trusts, insurance funds and financial leasing, according to a company manager Zou Shunhua. The company has channeled social capitals for metro Line 14 and Line 16, which helped reduce 30 billion yuan of government funding.

BII is also responsible for the rail network in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. In late 2014, BII worked along with its counterparts in Tianjin and Hebei to establish the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Intercity Railway Investment Co., Ltd, which will build 24 railways in the region by the end of 2030.

Beijing will strive for a target of US$200 billion in service export and import by 2020.

While sharpening its edge in traditional service trade such as tourism, transportation and architecture, Beijing will also develop emerging sectors including technology, culture, traditional Chinese medicine and finance.

Beijing will cultivate multi-level market players in service trade and create a number of brands with strong international competitiveness.

Meanwhile, nine policies and measures—including in taxation, finance and trade facilitation—will be implemented,to turn Beijing into a world leading hub of service trade.

Beijing will strive for a target of US$200 billion in service export and import by 2020.

While sharpening its edge in traditional service trade such as tourism, transportation and architecture, Beijing will also develop emerging sectors including technology, culture, traditional Chinese medicine and finance.

Beijing will cultivate multi-level market players in service trade and create a number of brands with strong international competitiveness.

Meanwhile, nine policies and measures—including in taxation, finance and trade facilitation—will be implemented,to turn Beijing into a world leading hub of service trade.

Konggar Airport in Tibet, one of the highest-altitude airports in China, was able to accommodate a Tibet Airlines wide-body Airbus 330 aircraft overnight for the first time, the airline announced Wednesday.

The 3,600-meter-high airport in Lhasa was able to accommodate the plane after the airline’s technicians solved the problem of re-starting the aircraft’s engine in a low air pressure environment after an overnight stay.

A new oxygen diffusion device has been designed to increase air supply during the engine ignition process, the airline said.

High-altitude airports (over 2,438 meters above sea levels) pose safety issues for pilots as low air pressure affects flight performance. All five airports in Tibet are classified as such.

All public hospitals have been told to end the longtime practice of drug price markups by the end of September as part of the ongoing healthcare reform, the top economic planner said on Wednesday.

Public hospitals’ loss of revenue will be offset for the most part by an increase in the prices of patient services, and more government investment is expected, a National Development and Reform Commission statement said.

The markups, a key source of income for public hospitals, are a major but thorny issue in healthcare reform, which aims for universal coverage of basic healthcare services, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Since the 1950s, public hospitals have been selling drugs at a markup. The maximum is 15 percent. Although the policy helped make up for a lack of adequate government healthcare funding, “gradually it evolved into a way to reap profits, contributing to worsening problems like overprescribing, an excessive use of antibiotics by hospitals, and rising medical expenses”, said Wang Hesheng, vice-minister of the health and family planning agency.

With the expected drop in revenues from drug sales, authorities will adjust the fees for medical services, the NDRC said on Wednesday.

Charges related to the expertise of medical staff, like those for diagnosis, surgery and rehabilitation, will rise, while those for tests requiring major medical equipment will drop, the commission said.

The commission also is requiring local price regulators to carry out other necessary reforms following the measure, including changing medical insurance payments so rising service fees are covered by insurance reimbursement. Also, attention must be given to meeting the basic healthcare needs of low-income people.

Many public hospitals in China had already abolished drug price markups before Wednesday’s announcement.

In Beijing, more than 3,600 medical institutions, including all public ones, had abolished the practice starting Saturday.

The measure is expected to lower the cost of outpatient treatment by about 5 percent, but the cost for inpatient treatment, including surgery, will rise by about 2.5 percent, said Li Sufang, deputy director of the Beijing Commission of Development and Reform.

Drug sales accounted for a third of the income of public hospitals last year, according to the Beijing Commission for Health and Family Planning.