Promise of clean air for all during Olympics

Bai Keming, Party secretary of Hebei Province, has promised that every effort will be made to keep the areas surrounding Beijing pollution-free during next year's Olympics.

"During the 2008 Olympic Games, blue skies are a requirement not only for Beijing, but also for the places around it," Bai said yesterday in an exclusive interview with China Daily at the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress.

He said that to ensure a "clean" Olympics, some temporary measures will have to be introduced, such as halting the production of those companies that are known to cause pollution.