Beijing Vice Mayor Ji Lin answers reporters' questions during the Beijing Olympic Media Center press conference on Beijing's environmental preparations for the Olympic Games on May 31st.[Photo: Xinhua]

China's capital city has, since 1998, invested a total of 120 billion yuan (about 15.7 billion US dollars) in improving its environment. And the effort has paid off, said Beijing's Vice Mayor Ji Lin on Thursday May 31st.

"The city's air quality has improved for eight years in a row. In 1998, there were only 100 days with good air quality, while last year saw 241 such days. The average density of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere has met the national standard."

This is what Ji Lin told CRI's reporter during the Beijing Olympic Media Center press conference on Beijing's environmental preparations for the Olympic Games.

"During the Olympic Games, we will have a detailed list of factories that will have to stop working. Some of them should finish work before Olympic Games. Some of them are forbidden to conduct groundwork, because groundwork is the main cause of air pollution. We will stop them from polluting the air in order to ensure a good environment for the Games."

The quality of the city's water has remained stable and now also meets national standards, while the emission of major pollutants is on the decline, Ji added.

Beijing's Vice Mayor Ji Lin attributed these years' great achievement to the city's continuing efforts to fight the threat of pollutants.

For instance, Beijing has improved its energy consumption structure by using less coal and more clean energies, such as natural and liquefied gas. The city consumed 300 million cubic meters of natural gas in 1998, and the amount has grown over ten times to reach 4.7 billion cubic meters in 2007.

Beijing plans to eliminate 2,580 old buses and 5,000 taxis, and to reconsider the number of high-emission vehicles being used by enterprises and government agencies this year.

Beijing is also paying attention to sewage and trash disposal, and aims to treat 90 percent of waste water and 97 percent of solid waste in its eight core districts in 2007.