Acting mayor of Beijing, Wang Anshun, was formerly elected as mayor of the city during a session of the municipal legislature on Monday.

Wang's election was announced at the close of the first session of the 14th Beijing Municipal People's Congress Monday morning, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Nine vice mayors of Beijing were also announced. 

"The municipal government must promote the Communist Party of China's best traditions and stand with the people in order to jointly overcome difficulties," Wang said in brief remarks to reporters.

Residents and experts in Beijing have pinpointed a number of areas of concern, particularly pollution, traffic, treatment of migrant workers and the rising cost of living they would like the new mayor and his colleagues to work on.

In a survey of 15 people Monday, six told the Global Times they knew Beijing just had its top officials elected. But everyone said they have their own expectations for the new leaders.

Fourteen interviewees told the Global Times that they believe pollution is the most urgent responsibility, given the worsening air conditions in the capital.

Brent Parker, an 80-year-old composer and teacher from New Zealand, said the poisonous smog is deterring foreigners. 

"Environmental issues must be solved if this city wants to attract more people to come and work, as the smog is really keeping people away," said Parker.

Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, said there are things the government can do immediately. 

"Dust from construction sites can be decreased if the government puts more efforts into supervision, and factory [emissions] should be improved," said Ma.

He feels a real difficulty for the mayor is pollution from surrounding cities.

"Industrial pollution from nearby cities in Hebei and Henan provinces has become an important source of Beijing's PM2.5. It'll be a challenge for Beijing's new mayor to convince nearby cities to adopt a more eco-friendly way of development," said Ma.

Traffic is another major concern of residents, which 13 interviewees expect Wang to solve. A 31-year-old accountant, who gave her surname as Feng, said she cannot tolerate the daily traffic jams anymore.  

An anonymous foreign businessman said he hopes the new leader could make taxi drivers happy and willing to serve passengers.

"I hope the new mayor can make drivers willing to stop when we need them. Otherwise I may miss important meetings and contribute less tax to the government," he said.

Sun Baiying, professor in government management with Renmin University of China, said Beijing should stop developing the auto industry if it wants to solve traffic jams.

"Though developing road systems and public transportation is an ultimate solution to the traffic issue, Beijing should stop promoting the car industry, and there should be tougher limits on issuing license plates," said Sun.

Six of the interviewees were migrant workers, and five said they worry about the increasing cost of living. 

"I hope the new mayor can decrease the growing rent as well as stabilize the price of commodities. I earn 1,600 yuan ($257) every month washing dishes and this means I struggle to live," said a 41-year-old migrant worker, surnamed Yan.

Beijing still lacks tolerance to non-Beijingers, which is not a quality an international metropolis should have, Sun said.

"Residents with a Beijing hukou have had better social welfare than previous years, but migrant workers are still living poorly as they have no social insurance. Our new mayor should make changes on this issue," said Sun.

At the opening of the session on January 22, Wang unveiled measures aimed at cutting pollution by 2 percent in 2013. During the session, he also said the current environmental problems are "worrisome" and said the numbers of vehicles should increase slowly, according to Xinhua Monday.

Born in December 1957 in Henan Province, Wang was appointed as acting mayor of Beijing in July 2012. He previously worked at the Ministry of Land and Resources mining for oil, and also in a series of administrative positions in Gansu Province, Shanghai and Beijing, Xinhua reported.