With the Beijing Games just over a year away, city officials still are trying to tackle one of their biggest challenges - how to improve the city's air quality and lower pollution levels.

China's capital will be thrust onto the world's stage when the games arrive in August 2008, and Beijing is trying to put its greenest foot forward.

Government leaders said they are evaluating how to proceed in a number of areas, and plans will include monitoring air quality during the Games, formulating an "air quality guarantee plan" and shutting down or reducing the production of certain industries during the event.

"The time is short, and the task is arduous," said Ji Lin, a vice mayor of Beijing, during a press conference Thursday held to address Beijing's environmental plans.

Some athletes and coaches have raised questions of whether competitors will be able to perform at their best during the Games because of poor air quality in the Chinese city.

But Ji said that foreign athletes shouldn't worry about monitoring pollutant levels on their own because Chinese officials will introduce mobile air quality testing stations, which will be located at Olympic venues and the Olympic Village.

A larger question left unanswered is whether the measurements of these testing stations will match up to international standards for evaluating air quality.

Municipal officials and Chinese environmental protection agencies are working together to draft an "air quality guarantee plan" aimed at showing that the nation is committed to providing a clean environment for athletes and visitors coming to Beijing for the Games.

"A city alone cannot tackle all these problems," Ji said. He added it should be a regional effort, saying that areas like Tianjin, Shanxi, will be cooperating with the city.

So far two coordinating meetings for air quality have been held. Officials are still drafting the plan, which still must be reviewed by experts.

City leaders hope to improve air quality by lowering gas emission levels during the Games, and older public vehicles will be taken off the road. This year at least 5,000 old taxis could be yanked, and older buses and yellow-label vehicles, such as mail trucks, also will be retired.

As Beijing prepares for the Games, the city has become one big construction site - and this resulted in high levels of dust that accompany the building sites.

But even these areas could see a change next year as leaders plan to suspend or reduce the output of certain industries during the Games' 17-day period.

Construction sites can create dust storms, which means they could be closed during the Games to help improve air quality.

Ji said that civil engineering projects are being looked at closely and that road construction will be suspended.

But when pressed for specifics of which other industries could be subject to suspensions or reductions during the Olympics, Ji replied he was unable to comment yet and that such rulings are still in the research stage.

"We cannot make decisions overnight," he said.