Beijing minus 2 million cars

(BEIJING, July 20) –246 "blue sky" days were reported in 2007 in Beijing, an increase of over one and a half fold over the number of "blue sky" days in 1998, reported Xinhua.

Since Beijing declared its intention of hosting the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 1998, the city's residents have seen marked improvement in their daily lives. Thanks to measures regarding environmental protection, such as the one that went into effect on July 20, limiting the number of cars on the roads, Beijingers are breathing fresher air and seeing clearer skies.

Starting on Sunday, motor vehicles in Beijing will be restricted from being on the roads on days that they are not pre-approved for, according to their license plate numbers, following Olympic regulations. This, along with other regulations already in place in the capital city, means a decrease of about 2 million motor vehicles on the roads every day. The emissions from motor vehicles in Beijing are blamed as one of the major sources of the city's pollution.

Experts estimate that during the Games, these restrictions can decrease motor vehicle pollution by 63%, or 118,000 tons of floating pollutants.

Since 1998, Beijing has invested 1.4 billion yuan to control pollution in the city, concentrating on limiting the contamination coming from coal production, motor vehicles, and factories.

Comparing data between 1998 and 2007, sulfur dioxide has decreased by 69.8%, carbon monoxide by 39.4% and nitrogen dioxide by 10.8%.