Ministry of Commerce announces the first list of national demonstration pedestrian streets

People’s Daily Online, Beijing, July 23 (Li Qiaochu). On July 22 the Ministry of Commerce held a special briefing on pedestrian-street upgrades. Vice Minister Wang Bingnan said five streets—Nanjing Confucius Temple, Hangzhou Hubin Road, Chongqing Jiefangbei, Chengdu Kuanzhai Alley and Xi’an Tang Dynasty Never Sleeps City—were named National Demonstration Pedestrian Streets after local applications and third-party review.

A second pilot batch of 12 streets was also selected, including Harbin Central Street, Dalian Qingniwa, Shijiazhuang Minzu Road, Zhengzhou Dehua Street, Changsha Huangxing South Road, Shenzhen Dongmen, Qingdao Taidong Road, Hefei Huaihe Road, Ningbo Old Bund, Fuzhou Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, Xiamen Zhongshan Road and Kunming Nanping Street.

Since late 2018 the ministry has piloted upgrades in 11 cities across five pillars: street environment (traffic, façades, greening while keeping heritage); commercial quality (800,000+ sqm renovated, 900+ brands, 80+ flagships/first stores); cultural character (commerce-tourism-culture linkage and experiential formats); smart streets (5G coverage, face recognition, online-offline fusion); and institutional mechanisms aiming for “no fakes on the pedestrian street.”