It is reported that the air quality was "excellent" or "fairly good" in 183 days of this year, accounting for 50.1 percent of all the days in the year or 0.1 percent more than the pre-set goal.

In accordance with a goal worked out by the municipal government to improve air quality, Beijing improved nine million sq m of bare ground and shut down 81 sand and stone stock yards.

A total of 1,152 construction sites and 74 sites of relocation have met the standards for environmental protection, while the city has used water to wash about 20 million sq m of road surface.

In winter, the city began to practice other measures to help improve the quality of air, including the completion of upgrading on 1,500 coal-powered boilers and wide use of coal of low sulfur.

Moreover, 425,000 automobiles in the city have obtained green or environment-friendly certificates, including 2,135 public buses that are now fueled by natural gas.

Beijing used to be listed as one of the most polluted cities in the world. Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and suspended particles are the major pollutants of the city.

(People's Daily December 31, 2001)