River cleanup plan announced

GUANGZHOU: The government here will spend 48.6 billion yuan ($7 billion) over the next 18 months to clean up the Pearl River, Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday.

The plan is to clear the river and its tributaries of pollution by the middle of 2010, ahead of the Asian Games, which will be held in Guangzhou, the report said.

A total of 121 tributaries stretching 388 km will be cleaned.