New regulations in Beijing now ban commercial ads on municipal public facilities, and the authorities will embark on a large-scale treatment campaign, focusing on public facilities which are adorned with commercial ads, starting from next month.

According to the revised provisional regulations on the management of public facilities along urban roads, commercial ads are not allowed on facilities of public welfare, such as bulletin boards, newspaper columns, newsstands, movable lavatories, dustbins or pillar boxes alongside pedestrian streets in the city.

Statistics show there are currently thirty categories of public facilities along the city's roads, with a large part of them displaying various kinds of dazzling commercials, strongly offsetting its use as a public utility.

Authorities will take down, remove or otherwise clean up those public facilities which are tarnished, starting from September. Public facilities that mix public interests with commercial benefits will be dealt with carefully.

As also stipulated in the regulations, the location of public facilities should not affect traffic lights, traffic marks, and it should not affect the landscape of surroundings.

The municipal government embarked on a revision of the regulations in the middle of April and the revision work is expected to be completed soon.