A much-anticipated bill to regulate the parking of Beijing's millions of cars will be submitted to the municipal legislature this year, its drafters said.

The rule will promote the use of automated parking meters to discourage unlicensed parking assistants who have become a source of complaints from car-owners. It will also encourage residential communities, businesses and government compounds to open their parking spaces to the public.

More than 1,300 suggestions have been received since members of the public were invited to give their opinions in April, said Jiang Yingming, a city government official in charge of the legislation.

Like many Chinese cities, Beijing has experienced an explosive growth in the number of private cars thanks to rising living standards and dropping car prices. But parking has become a headache for most car-owners as city planners did not foresee the boom of automobiles.

Beijing is estimated to have 5.7 million cars.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2017)