Xu Xiaoxuan, head of the Environment and Ecological Department of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee (BOBICO) said the Olympic Games coming to Beijing plays a dual role to show the world a spectacular event can be presented here as well as improve the living standards of the city's residents.
　　

She said that the outcome of Beijing's bid would not affect the city's plan for protecting the environment.
　　
She said the city set up specific plan to improve its environment in 1998, a year earlier than when Beijing started to bid for the 2008 Olympic Games in June 1999.
　
So far, Beijing has invested more than 30 billion yuan (3.6 billion U.S. dollars) to improve its air and water quality and reduce industrial pollution. Xu said Beijing's bid would greatly add to the efforts already underway to protect the city's environment.
　　
He said that BOBICO, Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau along with 20 other environmental protection organizations have signed on to the Action Plan for Green Olympics to accelerate the progress that is already being made in Beijing in terms of protecting the environment.
　　
According to the plan, Beijing will build a group of sewage treatment plants to improve the city's capacity to dispose of sewage, from 580,000 tons in 1998 to 2.5 to 2.8 million tons per year by 2008.
　　
Natural gas usage will be increase from 300 million cubic meters in 1998 to 4.7 billion cubic meters in 2008.
　　
In addition, trees and grass will be planted in Inner Mongolia and northern Beijing to protect the capital city from dust storms from North China.

(Beijing-2008 11/17/2000)