BEIJING -- Beijing municipal government approved a total investment of 28 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) in nine key projects dispersing non-capital functions last year.

Nearly 60,000 staff and students, and 5,000 hospital beds are expected to be moved out of the city upon completion of the projects, according to the latest statistics by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Beijing plans to cap its population at 23 million by 2020 to address "big city diseases," including traffic congestion and pollution.

To meet the target, the local government has taken measures to move non-capital functions away from the city, such as relocating wholesale markets and closing polluting factories.

Five colleges and universities, Beijing City University, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing Film Academy, Beijing Technology and Business University, and Renmin University of China, will either be relocated or have suburban campuses built.

The key education projects are scheduled to be completed by 2020.

Among the four hospitals, Beijing Tiantan Hospital is being relocated. New sites for the other three hospitals are under construction.