China's EU ambassador dismisses Olympic pollution fears

China’s ambassador to the EU has hit back at claims that the Olympics will be blighted by pollution problems.

Beijing's notorious pollution have been making the headlines instead of sport in the final countdown to the August 8-24 Games.

But Song Zhe says that China will keep its promise to “deliver a green Olympics”.

Zhe, head of the mission of the People’s Republic of China to the EU, told the Parliament magazine that his country will “stay committed” to pursuing environmental-friendly policies long after the Olympics.

He said, “In constructing the Olympic venues, efforts were made to embed the ‘green’ concept in order to make them more energy efficient and environmental friendly.

“In order to make Beijing greener,more than 160 projects have been completed and 20 new natural reserves designated.

“In a word, there are now three green belts that improve substantially the environment of Beijing.”

The Chinese have virtually left no stone unturned, erected venues in record times, moved entire factories to ease the grave pollution problem, have a Big-Brother-like eye on every aspect of food safety and will use modern technology to make sure it doesn't rain during the ceremonies.

The government did not declare a total budget, saying only that the operational costs of the Games would not exceed the 2.4 billion dollars spent by Athens in 2004.

But with environmental efforts alone of around 12 billion dollars, a new airport terminal and several new subway lines built in a major city infrastructure overhaul, the overall figure should be several tens of billions of dollars.

In his article, Zhe says that in preparing for the Olympics, China has taken its commitment to environmental issues “seriously”.

“Since the bid, Beijing has invested a total of nearly bn in environmental infrastructure, we have taken over 200 measures to improve air and water quality and more than 200 high-pollution factories have been closed down or production diverted.”

In addition, he says nine sewage treatment facilities and 10 recycled water plants have been set up in the city. “As a result, 520km of rivers within the sixth ring road of Beijing have been cleaned while air quality improves every year.”

On meeting its pledge to clean up the city, he added, “China will fulfil its promise.”

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