Winter Olympics bidding to speed up China's air pollution control: spokesman

Smog-choked Beijing's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games is expected to accelerate the city and China's air pollution control process, spokesman for the annual session of China's top political advisory body said Monday.

Lyu Xinhua, spokesman for the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee told a press conference ahead of the annual session that he is expecting that Beijing will retain the "Olympic Blue" if the city's bidding is successful.

Beijing and its co-host Zhangjiakou, about 200 km northwest of Beijing, have seen competitive edges in the bid, but traffic congestion and air pollution could be the weak points.

Lyu said that the acceleration of the pollution control will not only benefit the 100 million residents in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region that has seen worsening air pollution figures over the past years, but also set up an example for other regions.

If the bidding speeds up Beijing's efforts to clean up its smoggy sky, the capital's previous air pollution control goal would possibly be achieved ahead of time, the spokesman said, referring to Beijing's environment master plan (2015-2030) where clean air is a main subject.

The annual session of CPPCC National Committee is scheduled to open Tuesday. Endi