Plan to merge with Xuanwu officially approved

The capital's Chongwen and Xuanwu districts have now officially become history as the State Council approved the plan to merge them with Dongcheng district and Xicheng district to improve the city's development and governance.
Xuanwu will merge with Xicheng district and Chong-wen will join Dongcheng district, according to the plan by the Beijing municipal government.
The four districts form a core area of Beijing. They serve as its political, administrative, economic and financial centers, and boast numerous historical and tourist attractions. But the relatively limited geographical area of the districts has restrained their development. Chongwen and Xuanwu have also been lagging behind the two other districts in economic strength and the municipal government hopes the consolidation will achieve balanced growth and improved governance. The government also hopes the move will help cut administrative costs and improve efficiency by trimming the number of government institutions.