Beijing phases out old vehicles, shifts some factories ahead of 2008 Olympics

Beijing has taken 60,000 old cars and buses off the road and moved smoke-stack factories out of the capital in a bid to reduce pollution ahead of the 2008 Olympics, officials said.

The head of the city's environmental protection agency told a press conference that 200 factories have been shifted outside the city, while a major steel-smelting furnace has been shut down.

He also said that coal-fired boilers in the city are being upgraded to run on natural gas.

"Major pollution has been dramatically reduced," said Environmental Protection Bureau chief Shi Hanmin.

"We have phased out 50,000 old taxies and 10,000 old public buses," he said. "But we have to do more."

Shi said his agency is encouraging people to scrap their old cars and either buy new ones or use public transport.

The city government announced last month a plan to invest 10 bln usd to upgrade bus and metro lines by 2010.

"We have to strengthen the phasing out of old cars," Shi said.

"Old vehicles emit 14 times more pollution than new ones so a rise in the number of new vehicles on the road does not mean more pollution."