Beijing is spending nearly 100 billion yuan on pollution control and improving air quality, a state environmental official said Thursday.

 

The money would be spent on the 12th phase of the capital's pollution control scheme, which had seen positive results, said Li Xinmin, deputy director of the pollution control division under the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).

 

Last year, Beijing saw about 230 days of good air quality, ranking Grade II or higher according to the national air quality standards.

 

The city renovated 330 coal-fuelled boilers and replaced 28,000old taxis and 3,900 diesel-engine buses in 2005, he said.

 

Removal of the Capital Iron and Steel Company and the closure of the production facilities at the Beijing Chemical Plant had started, and the oil supply had been required to meet the National Phase III Motor Vehicle Emission Standards since July last year, he said.

 

The SEPA would continue raising car emission standards and renewing old vehicles to improve the air quality in the capital this year, he said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2006)