Beijing police expect to use helicopters to improve performance in their duties within two years, a local CPC official said on Thursday.

Preparations for purchasing police helicopters, setting up a training base for pilots and special riot police are going on smoothly, Qiang Wei, deputy secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was quoted as saying by the Beijing Times on Friday.

Qiang said police helicopters would be mainly used in the fight against terrorism and violence, and in dealing with emergencies.

The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau is drafting a plan on the number, model and the make-up of helicopters to be purchased for police use.

Qiang said the adoption of police helicopters was expected to play an active role in maintaining a good social order in the national capital.

China had 13 police helicopters by the end of last year, which were mainly used in the cities of Guangzhou, Wuhan and Zhengzhou. China's first police helicopter was put into use in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, in 1996.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2004)