Chief Beijing Olympic organiser Liu Qi says more
effort needs to be made to clean up the air pollution in the city, according to
a report on the official Web site of the 2008 Games.
Speaking on a visit to the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau this week,
the president of the Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG)
said improving air quality was a key project in staging a "high-level" Games in
2008.
The Chinese capital is regularly covered by smog and although BOCOG has
reported improvements over the last couple of years, pollution is certain to be
on the agenda when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) inspectors make
their second visit of the year to the city next week.
Liu, who is also secretary of the Beijing Communist Party, called on local
government departments to do more to tackle the dust caused by the city's many
building sites as well as cut down emissions from vehicles and coal fires.
"Environmental renovation is a long-term task and we need to uphold the
spirit of the Long March in the 1930's of the China Red Army to overcome every
difficulty," Liu said.
