Coal-rich Shanxi cleans sky to ensure good air quality for Beijing

TAIYUAN, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The coal-rich province of Shanxi in north China will launch a special drive to reduce environmental pollution amid efforts to help ensure good air quality for its close neighbor Beijing during the Olympic period.

The campaign, scheduled from June 5 -- the "World Environment Day" -- till Sept. 20, will be focused on preventing pollution incidents, a Shanxi Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau spokesman told a press conference on Wednesday.

"Major cities must guarantee fairly good air quality. No black smoke or other pollution emissions should be seen at famous scenic spots or along the routes leading to those areas." the spokesman said.

"Starting tomorrow, law-enforcement staff from the environmental authorities at various levels will be stationed in key pollutant-emission businesses to keep a round-the-clock watch over the situation."

He didn't reveal how many businesses would be involved in the campaign, but the provincial government earlier reported 449 such businesses were on the surveillance list this year.

Shanxi is well known for its rich coal resources, places of historic interest, and also, smoggy skies due to the backbone coal mining industry.

Likewise, Beijing's neighbouring municipality Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei and Shandong, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are lending a hand to the capital to attain anti-pollution goals. Work in these areas includes closing major polluters, removing outmoded taxis and reconditioning gas stations to capture harmful chemicals.

As the sporting spectacular and the harvest season were coming, the Chinese government warned farmers of an impending strike if they violated a ban on burning crop stubble in effort to improve air quality in and around Olympic host cities.

The ban runs from May to the end of September in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Liaoning, all areas around Olympic venues, according to a directive jointly issued by the ministries of environmental protection and agriculture.

The ministries ordered their respective local bureaus in the nine provinces and municipalities to step up surveillance and prosecution of stalk burning.

From May to September, the Environmental Protection Ministry will use satellites to monitor the burning of crop stalks across the country and publish the results in the media.

Chinese farmers often burn crop stalks left after the harvest to clear the fields for the next planting.

Beijing and six other cities, including Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Qinhuangdao, Qingdao and Hong Kong, are to co-host events for the Olympics, which begin on Aug. 8.