Beginning today, daytime parking fees will be adjusted in 13 major shopping areas in Beijing, including Wangfujing, Xidan and Yansha. To cope with the change, shopping malls are introducing favorable parking policies to retain customers.

"Currently, we have 180 underground parking spots at the Wangfujing Department Store, although the underground parking fee has been raised to 6 yuan per hour. We will still offer free parking between 5 pm and closing time," Dong Yi of the store's marketing department told Beijing Youth Daily.

Another large mall, Joy City in Xidan, decided to keep its favorable parking policies as well.

VIP members and patrons who spend more than 200 yuan per visit can get one hour of free parking.

Malls affected by large parking fee increases are also introducing favorable policies.

Beijing Blue Island Mansion once charged 2 yuan per hour for aboveground parking. Under the new standard, the parking fee is 8 yuan per hour.

Wu Ping, that mall's sales department manager, told Beijing Youth Daily that the mall was going to offer three hours of free parking to shoppers who spend more than 300 yuan at a time.

Since the underground parking costs 2 yuan less per hour than the aboveground parking, some malls are providing more underground parking room for customers. Among them, the Cuiwei Department Store is moving its staff parking 1 km away to make room for more customer parking.

Similar measures have been adopted by the Beijing Oriental Plaza and Wangfujing Department Store in central Beijing.

Some managers of the affected shopping malls expressed concern about the municipality's parking fee increases.

"It might affect the shopping choices of many customers," said a manager who declined to release his name. "Some customers who used to drive here to shop might turn to the subway, but others might cancel the shopping altogether."

The manager added that customers are no longer loyal to particular malls nowadays because there are too many shopping options.

"So a rise in a parking fee can have a negative influence on customer flows," he said.

However, not all drivers face parking fee increases. In Guomao, one aboveground parking lot reduced its fee to 8 yuan per hour from 10 yuan per hour, but the underground parking fee will remain stable.

Metro