Photo taken on August 2, 2008 shows a
parterre featuring the logo of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on Tiananmen
Square in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Chen Shugen) Photo Gallery>>>
BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- China is likely to start
monitoring ozone and particle pollution from next year as part of efforts to
keep anti-pollution campaigns in force after the Olympics, an environmental
official said on Sunday.
Fan Yuansheng, of the Ministry of Environmental
Protection (MEP), said the two pollutants had caused great concern and the MEP
was making technical preparations to monitor them.
"We should be able to start regular monitoring of
ozone and PM2.5 (particle matter) next year, which would lead to measures to
deal with them," Fan told a press conference.
He was speaking in response to reports that China's
environmental authorities had failed to include fine particles and ozone into
their pollution measurements, causing ignorance of health damage caused by the
pollutants.
Fine particles, known as PM2.5, are tiny solid
particles of 2.5 micrometers in diameter and smaller. Health experts believe
they are unhealthy to breathe and have been associated with fatal illnesses and
other serious health problems.
Colorless ozone is also believed to cause respiratory
problems and to affect lung functions.
There have been worries that the air in Beijing, the
Chinese capital that will host the summer Olympic Games in five days, may be
unhealthy for some athletes competing outdoors to breathe.
China has taken drastic anti-pollution steps, such as
closing factories surrounding Beijing and ordering half of 3.3 million cars in
Beijing off the roads, to try to clean the sky during the Olympics.
"These measures have been effective so far," said
Fan, Director General of the MEP's Department of Pollution Control.
Beijing basked under blue sky this weekend after
being blanketed in a humid haze for a week. The Beijing Meteorological Bureau
said on Sunday favorable weather conditions and a series of anti-pollution
measures had combined to clear the normal smog above the city.
Fan Yuansheng refuted allegations that China's air
pollution standards were more lenient than World Health Organization (WHO)
guidelines.
Standards that China was using to control four major
air pollutants - sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and
particles - followed the WHO's "phase one" guideline issued in 2005, he said.
The WHO allows developing countries like China to
begin from this guideline to eventually reach its stricter final goals, he said.
Fan said measures adopted to reduce pollution in
Beijing for its hosting of the summer Olympics would stay in force after the
event.
"Most of these measures are long-term ones and will
remain after the Games. Not all the temporary measures will be retained after
the Games, but they may provide clues for our future work," he said.
The Chinese government recently warned that more
factories could be temporarily shut down and more cars could be restricted from
the roads in Beijing if "extremely unfavorable weather condition" occur to
deteriorate the air during the Games.
But many Beijing residents are more worried that air
pollution could turn bad after the Olympics, with factories reopened,
construction resumed and car no longer restricted.
Fan argued that the Olympics would leave
environmental legacies to Beijing and China, which has spent billions to clean
the environment polluted by rapid industrialization.
For example, the State Council, China's cabinet, has
ordered all government cars to keep off the road for one day each week according
the last figure of their plate number. This is a continuation of the temporary
measures during the Olympic Games, Fan said.
The MEP has launched a research on how to further
improve air quality in the entire northern China where Beijing is, since air
pollution is not a problem of Beijing alone, he said.
Nearly 90 percent of coal-burning power plants in
provinces neighboring Beijing have taken measures to reduce the emission of
sulphur dioxide, and many vehicles have been upgraded to meet stricter emission
requirements.
Lu Xinyuan, Director General of the MEP's Bureau of
Environmental Supervision, said about 200 environmental inspectors have been
sent to Beijing and five neighboring provinces to check enterprises on their
anti-pollution work.
Meanwhile, 16 environmental groups based in Beijing
on Sunday called on local motorists not to drive on Aug. 8, in order to help
reduce pollution and road congestions when the Olympics open.
They further encouraged private car owners to use
public transport as much as possible during the Olympics and the following
Paralympics to "contribute a blue sky to Beijing."
The groups with over 200,000 members hoped the usage
of private cars would be reduced by one million times if the campaign are well
responded in the next two months, according to Yu Xinbin, member of the Global
Village of Beijing, a non-governmental organization.
NBA star Yao Ming(left), on behalf of
Chinese basketball team, presents Premier Wen Jiabao with a
basketball signed by the whole squad.(Xinhua Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao on Sunday promised to maintain a clean, green and beautiful Beijing
during and after the Olympic Games.
Five days ahead of the Games, Wen visited athletes in
training as well as volunteers and utility workers. Full story
BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Beijing and the neighboring
areas may impose stricter measures to curb industrial and vehicle emissions in
case of serious air pollution during the Olympics, according to China's
environmental watchdog.
The cities of Beijing and Tianjin and Hebei Province
would expand their current curbs on cars and factories, if meteorological
departments foresee an unfavorable air quality induced by "extreme unfavorable
weather conditions" in the coming two days, a report on China's Ministry of
Environmental Protection website said. Full story
