(Photo) Beijing to implement more measures to improve air quality in '08

Scene of the press conference

(BEIJING, Feb. 27) -- At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Administration of Environmental Protection, stressed the city's commitment to further improving the air quality this year. The goal is to reach a 70% goal in terms of Grade 2 or better days in 2008, he said.

Since 1998, Beijing has seen the number of days with Grade 2 or better air quality increase by more than 40 percent, according to Du. A grade of 2 or better indicates that the Air Quality Index ranges from 0 to 100.

Du Shaozhong

Du told reporters that Beijing is now in its 14th phase of implementing measures to reduce air pollution. In the previous 13 phases, some 200 such measures were carried out and resulted in continuous improvements in the air quality, despite the city's rapid economic and infrastructure developments.

He pointed out the decrease in major air pollutants in 2007 compared with 1998 -- sulfur dioxide (SO2) by 60.8%, carbon monoxide (CO) by 39.4%, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by 10.8%, and particle pollution by 17.8%. In addition, the annual average concentration of SO2, CO and NO2 now meet national standards.

Strict control measures will be pushed to control air pollution and ensure the air quality during the Olympic (Paralympic) Games, according to Du.

Journalists at the press conference