Beijing is still short of 16 days to attain its target for 201 days of blue skies this year. The city's environmental protection administration decided to carry out a general environmental check in the city.

The city experienced three consecutive days of heavy pollution early this month.

The city will check the tail gas of automobiles of big firms and the dust caused by construction sites. The license of those autos that exceed the prescribed standards for tail gas emission will have to be revoked for one month as a punishment and those firms and construction sites that fail to meet the environmental standards will be fined according to the environmental law.

The city's environmental protection administration, in collaboration with the municipal departments of industry and commerce administration and quality supervision, check the quality of commercial coal and contain the sale of coal with a high content of sulfur dioxide. Key monitoring will be made of the coal-burning boilers and comprehensive environmental control will be enforced on stronger terms in districts where the air pollution is heavy.

The city also decides to launch a blue sky month to urge firms to discharge less pollutants on their own and citizens to report any acts that violate the environmental law.

(www.cenews.com.cn December 10, 2002)