CHINA: OLYMPICS - Air pollution and traffic problems remain a big concern for Beijing, less than 50 days before the Olympics kick off

Record ID: 216817

  • Title: CHINA: OLYMPICS - Air pollution and traffic problems remain a big concern for Beijing, less than 50 days before the Olympics kick off
  • Date: 21st June 2008
  • Summary: (BN10) BEIJING, CHINA (JUNE 20, 2008) (REUTERS) TRAFFIC ON HIGHWAY WITH SMOG COVERING BUILDINGS IN DISTANCE CARS DRIVING ON HIGHWAY BUILDINGS IN SMOG TRAFFIC / BUILDINGS IN DISTANCE COVERED BY SMOG SMOGGY ATMOSPHERE TWO WOMEN CHATTING ON STREET / CARS AND SMOG IN BACKGROUND
  • Embargoed: 6th July 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA9PKLOLIOHDRZSNVRLF72WGEJC
  • Story Text: China underlines its efforts to reduce air pollution as once again Beijing is shrouded in thick smog.
    Beijing, which hosts the Olympics from Aug. 8-24 and Paralympics from Sept. 6-17, is one of the most polluted cities in the world and, with 3.5 million vehicles on the road, rapidly becoming one of the most congested.
    Pollution is a major concern for many athletes ahead of the Games and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said it might re-schedule endurance events such as the marathon to prevent health risks to athletes competing for more than one hour.
    Less than fifty days before the Olympics Beijing was once again submerged in dense smog on Friday (June 20). With this graphic reminder of how much remains to be done to clear the city's skies before the August Games, the Chinese authorities underlined their efforts to reduce smog before the Games.
    Beijing has spent 140 billion yuan (20.34 billion U.S. dollars) on environmental improvements over the last decade, shutting down heavy polluting factories, switching tens of thousands of homes from oil to gas heating and imposing higher emission standards on vehicles. The problem persists, however, as Zhou Zhengyu, deputy director of Beijing's Municipal Communication Committee, acknowledged.
    "To ensure smooth traffic and good air quality during the Olympics and Paralympics is an IOC requirement and also our commitment as a host city, but there are 3.29 million cars in Beijing now. In order to fulfil our commitment of ensuring safe, punctual, reliable and convenient transport, it's necessary to adopt relevant traffic controls to make sure that traffic goes smoothly during the Olympics and the Paralympics and to make sure that air quality reaches the required standard," said Zhou Zhengyu.
    Environmental experts have in the past cast doubts on the Beijing's claims of improvement in air quality, particularly the much-vaunted "blue sky days" tally by which the authorities measure the improvement.
    Asked at a news conference whether the official data wasn't too optimistic for saying that Friday was just 'slightly bad', the deputy chief of the Beijing's Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, Du Shaozhong said this was a matter of perception.
    "This is common knowledge regarding environmental protection monitoring. In fact, what we feel isn't exactly the same as the scientific data. But when we measure air pollution levels, we base it on scientific data provided by detecting equipment," he said.
    Beijing has hired a panel of foreign environmental experts to lend credibility to its pollution monitoring and forecasts during the Games, state media reported. It is the first time foreigners have joined the Chinese capital's fight to improve air quality. Yu Jianhua, director of the Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, explained why.
    "Beijing is an open city and it welcomes foreign experts to join us and bring us better ideas. The reasons why we invited these foreign experts are firstly we are doing this work in a very straightforward way, secondly I believe what we are doing is understandable to those experts, and also it is what they want to do. Our common goal is to stage a better Olympic games," Yu Jianhua said.
    City authorities ran a test of the ban last August and, although the impact on air quality was not immediately noticeable to residents, the city declared itself satisfied with the results.
    A raft of factory closures and partial closures as well as a ban on major construction announced earlier this year will also take effect for two months from July 20.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register