Fresh air in Shanghai, coastal financial hub of China, has become the city's main attraction.

Statistics show that the number of days that Shanghai enjoyed excellent or fairly good air quality totals 309 in 2001 -- 21 days more than the previous year.

The Shanghai Municipal Government has taken a series of measures to clean up its air in recent years in line with the speedy development of the local economy.

Sources said that some 4,000 coal-burning boilers have been upgraded, with key industrial enterprises' emission kept under strict control.

Meanwhile, liquefied gas has been used in 30,000 taxis and a large amount of green land has been planted in the city.

The Shanghai Environment Monitoring Center said that the monthly dust average of city now amounts to 10 tons per square kilometer, drastically lower than the 35 tons per square kilometer in the 1970s.

The annual governmental investment on environmental protection has continued to grow by 10 percent in recent years. It will reach 116 billion yuan in 2002, official sources said.

( Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2002)