Beijing to shut down heavy polluters during Games

By Nick Mulvenney

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing will shut down smoke-belching factories and ban thousands of cars from city streets to improve air quality during next year's Olympic Games, a senior city official said on Thursday.

Vice mayor Ji Lin said other special measures would include a ban on dust-causing earthworks at construction sites.

Ji said 120 billion yuan ($15.69 billion) had already been invested in environmental improvements over the past decade and at least another 25 billion yuan would be spent over the next year to clean the city's air.

"Beijing attaches high importance to environmental protection and much investment and progress has been made," he told a news conference.

"But problems still exist and there is a long way to go to meet the higher standards needed for the Olympic Games. We are confident we will achieve our goals."

Improving air quality is one of the biggest issues facing Beijing. Despite improvements in the past few years, the city is still regularly blanketed in smog.

Some polluting factories have been given time limits to reduce emissions and others will have restricted operations from August 8 to 24 next year.

"During the Games we will have stricter measures," Ji said. "Some companies will adjust their production time, some will have to reduce production and some will be suspended."