Fireworks went on sale in over 2,000 stores in Beijing on Wednesday ahead of the Chinese New Year celebrations which will explode into life on February 17.

More than 510,000 boxes of firecrackers worth 114 million yuan (US$14.7 million) are expected to be sold from 2,153 designated stores.

It's now two years since Beijing lifted a 12-year long ban on fireworks which are traditionally believed to ward off evil spirits attempting to enter the New Year. The city banned firecrackers in 1993 due to safety and environmental concerns but lifted it in 2005 when authorities said the industry had cleaned up the business.

The new regulations permit Beijing residents inside the fifth ring road to let off fireworks all day on February 17 and 18 - New Year's Eve and New Year's Day - and from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM each day from February 19 to March 4.

As firework manufacturers and vendors prepare for their trade to rocket city authorities remain concerned about the threat from illegal fireworks.

"Inferior fireworks are still rampant and pose a great threat to citizens' safety," said Li Wei, head of the city's fireworks management office. "The key to the problem is to allow legal products to fill the market as soon as possible. That's why we're allowing sales to begin three days earlier this year than in 2006," he said.

The city has contained the presence of inferior firecrackers by setting up checkpoints on the main roads into the capital, he said.

Vendors wishing to sell firecrackers in the capital must pass a test to obtain safety qualification certificates from the Beijing Municipal Administration of Work Safety.

People over the age of 60 will not be allowed to sell firecrackers in Beijing, according to a notice issued last December by a local safety watchdog. It's the first time the city has set an age limit for vendors.?

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn February 8, 2007)