Beijing has dismantled more than three million square meters of
illegal buildings during the past six months, as part of its
face-lift for the 2008 Olympic Games.
City authorities had planned to dismantle 3.32 million square
meters this year and had so far dismantled 3.31 million square
meters, said Lu Haijun, an official with Beijing 2008 Environment
Headquarters.
The Chinese capital also launched its biggest ever crackdown on
unlicensed and unsafe billboards in April.
Lu said more than 90 percent of the billboards had been
dismantled and the remainder would be down by September.
In addition, authorities cracked down on advertising stickers,
which appear almost everywhere and are very hard to remove, erasing
13 million of them.
In the business zone of Xidan, authorities have put special
coatings on the wire poles and buildings to prevent stickers being
placed on them.
Beijing Vice Mayor Zhao Fengtong said, "We shall finish our work
to clean up the city in the next six months and ensure a clean and
orderly environment for the 2008 Olympic Games."
The Beijing Olympic Games will take place from Aug. 8 to 24 next
year.
(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2007)
