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XP · Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 622 Location: Beautiful Island

Some temporary measures brought in to tackle pollution in Beijing during the Olympic Games are set to become permanent, in a bid to address continuing environmental challenges, despite the recent improvement in air quality, according to Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing environmental protection bureau.

But Wang Li, deputy director of the city's traffic administrative bureau, told the conference that as of [now] there are no plans [yet] to continue with the odd-even license plate restriction once the Olympics has finished, despite its success in cutting pollution and calls for the continuation of the measure.

The average daily air pollution index (API) so far this month was 56, far below 81 reported last year. Major air pollutants on average dropped 40 percent over the same period last year, with nitrogen oxide emissions directly related to vehicles down by 61 percent.

Foreign experts have also spoken highly of Beijing's improvement in air quality, such as Ivo Allegrini, head of the air pollution department at the Italian National Research Center.

Andreas Wahner, director of the Institutes for Chemistry of Germany, said: "Beijing's air quality control measures have received a remarkable improvement as major pollutant concentration has declined to reach WHO guidance."

Details in : http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-08/24/content_6965403.htm