CRI听力:Beijing's Clean-Air Endeavor Hasn't Gone with the Olympics

Reporter:
For the first time since 2000, Beijing residents enjoyed a record 23 "blue sky days" and zero "hazardous days" in April.

Wang Xiaoming, a senior official with the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, says the city's long-term conservation efforts have paid off.

"Beijing has been working to clean up its air since 1998. The city has made greater efforts to bring vehicles that failed to meet emission standards off the road and phased out factories which cause heavy pollution. Moreover, the city has been encouraging the use of clean energies and pushing for the concept of green construction sites."

Green construction sites require workers to reduce dust-generating procedures as much as possible. For example, all digging work must be stopped if wind strength exceeds level four.

Hu Jinfa is an environment appraiser with the Beijing New Century Certification Company.

He says the city's improvement in air quality should be attributed to efforts made on all sides of society.

"Beijing's clean air is one of the legacies left by the Olympic Games. The government has boosted its investment in this field. Every community in Beijing has made green landscaping plans for a cleaner living environment. The Beijing residents also have a better awareness towards environmental protection after the Olympics."

Beijing has experienced 96 "blue sky days" in the first quarter of the year. That's about 80 percent of days so far, but still 164 days shy of the projected minimum of 260 blue sky days for this year.

Wang Xiaoming says as Beijing's air pollution is caused by multiple factors, his agency still faces many challenges.

"Beijing's air pollution consists of a combination of pollutants, including vehicle emission, industrial pollution and construction pollution. Unlike many developed countries, we are dealing with these forms of pollutions all together at the same time. This has made our work more difficult. "

Wang Xiaoming adds that the municipal government is looking for more cooperation with foreign conservation agencies for continuous improvement of the city's environment.

Zheng Chenguang, CRI news.