Beijing has dismantled more than three million square meters of illegal buildings during the past six months, as part of its face-lift for the 2008 Olympic Games.

 

City authorities had planned to dismantle 3.32 million square meters this year and had so far dismantled 3.31 million square meters, said Lu Haijun, an official with Beijing 2008 Environment Headquarters.

 

The Chinese capital also launched its biggest ever crackdown on unlicensed and unsafe billboards in April.

 

Lu said more than 90 percent of the billboards had been dismantled and the remainder would be down by September.

 

In addition, authorities cracked down on advertising stickers, which appear almost everywhere and are very hard to remove, erasing 13 million of them.

 

In the business zone of Xidan, authorities have put special coatings on the wire poles and buildings to prevent stickers being placed on them.

 

Beijing Vice Mayor Zhao Fengtong said, "We shall finish our work to clean up the city in the next six months and ensure a clean and orderly environment for the 2008 Olympic Games."

 

The Beijing Olympic Games will take place from Aug. 8 to 24 next year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2007)