BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- China's capital Beijing saw its first clear day of the New Year on Saturday after winds the day before blew away a blanket of smog that had enveloped the city during the first five days of the year.

Air quality was good on Saturday, marking the first "blue sky" day for Beijing, said the monitoring center of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau on Saturday.

Beijing's ambitious target of 245 "blue sky" days got off to a bad start as air pollution reached the highest warning level on Friday morning.

The city reached its annual target of 238 "blue sky" days for 2006 by Dec. 24, and then added three more to the total before New Year's Day.

According to the bureau's website, the municipal government will put air quality improvement, one of the biggest concerns of local residents, at the top of its agenda in 2007.