Construction will begin next year on two Beijing subway projects to connect the southeastern Tongzhou district with downtown, transport officials have said.

The Batong Line, in service since 2003, will be extended east by two stations to reach the site of the planned Universal Studio Park as well as merged with Line 1, removing the need to transfer. The work is scheduled for completion in 2019. A new route, the Pinggu Line, will also be built in the northern part of Tongzhou. When it opens, in 2020, it will carry passengers northeastward to Pinggu district.

Two other subway lines between the city center and Tongzhou, an eastbound extension of Line 7 and the new Line 17, are already under construction, according to Beijing's city transport commission.