GUATEMALA CITY, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The International Olympic Committee on Monday formally recognized the efforts made by Chinese authorities to reduce air pollution in Beijing ahead of the 2008 Olympics games, IOC spokesman Giselle Davies told reporters.

   "They have told us about the work they have done, for example refurbishing a thousand coal-burning generators in plants and factories, and replacing 50,000 aging cars and around 10,000 aging buses," Davies told a press conference in Guatemala City, where the IOC will begin its 119th assembly on Wednesday.

    She said that Chinese authorities had invited members of the IOC executive committee to test the contingency measures that would be used in special cases.

    "They have a plan under which, from Aug. 7 to Aug. 20 they expect to remove a million cars from circulation to see how this would work in an emergency," she said.

    She added that the IOC executive committee had listened to reports from Olympic Games organizers until 2012.

    She also said that although the IOC committee has 111 members, only 97 can vote.

    Davies said that the three nations campaigning for 2014 Winter Games cannot vote and that other nations including Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, India and Sweden were also excluded.