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BEIJING, Jan. 21 -- Beijing has issued 2,116 store
permits to sell firecrackers so that, starting on Sunday, residents may buy
quality firecrackers to celebrate Spring Festival, which starts from midnight
before January 29.
Among them, 585 permits were issued to stores within Beijing's Fifth Ring Road, sources said.
To ensure public safety, people are required to buy
fireworks at authorized stores and use them responsibly, according to a circular
from the municipal administration office of fireworks and firecrackers.
In September last year, Beijing lifted a 12-year ban
on firecrackers during the traditional Spring Festival China's Lunar New Year in
response to people's love for a tradition that has been passed down from
generation to generation.
The Beijing municipal government has organized the
sale of 600,000 boxes of firecrackers worth of more than 100 million yuan (US$12
million) for its citizens, said Tang Yunli, an officer with the Beijing Public
Security Bureau, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Authorities will keep a close eye on the sale of
firecrackers to ensure the city does not run out of firecrackers during the
holiday season, Tang said.
Beijing's first special quality supervision and
examination station was established last November. The station includes 1,650
square metres of fields to test firecrackers' noise and other indexes.
Stores found to sell illegal or inferior firecrackers
will be banned from selling firecrackers for three years.
Beijingers are allowed to set off firecrackers within
the Fifth Ring Road all day next Saturday and on January 29, and from 7 am to
midnight every day from January 30 to February 12. The Lunar New Year is a major
Chinese festival and traditionally a time of family reunions.
More than 78 million confiscated illegal firecrackers
were destroyed in Beijing's Daxing District on December 22 last year after a
crackdown on people cashing in on Beijing lifting its ban on fireworks being
used in China's Lunar New Year.
(Source: China Daily) | 
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