Beijing to turn more old factories into libraries, museums, galleries

Beijing expects to convert more abandoned factories into public cultural facilities like those in the trendy 798 art zone in the east of the city.

The municipal government on Wednesday issued a plan to make better use of old factories by renovating them into libraries, museums, galleries, bookstores, and cinemas to create a hotbed for the national capital's creative culture.

Beijing has 242 old empty factories with a total floor space of more than 25 million square meters. Among them, 109 have been renovated and 26 are under renovation.

Beijing will evaluate the old factories and work out a protection and development scheme according to the capital's overall city plan.

Some old factories will be transformed into creative industry parks, and high-end projects are welcome, according to Zhao Lei, head of Beijing municipal office for state-owned cultural assets supervision and management.