Beijing focuses on environmental protection
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-06-06 09:52

Beijing spent 14.1 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) in environmental protection last year, accounting for 3.3 percent of the city's total GDP for the same year, a government gazette published on Sunday shows.

The money was mainly used to build infrastructure facilities, harness industrial polluting sources and build other projects to improve local environment.

Beijing invested 81.3 billion yuan (US$9.83 billion) in environmental protection in the period from 1998 to 2004, equaling to four percent of the city's GDP for the same period, according to the gazette published by the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau.

Du Shaozhong, deputy head of the bureau, said that Beijing still faces grave challenges in environmental protection, a result of coal burning, increasing number of motor vehicles, tensing resources and regional environmental deterioration. Air pollution control will be a major task for Beijing, Du said.

Beijing saw 229 days with fine air quality last year, five days more than that for the previous year.