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Hebei strives to make 2022 winter Olympic venue greener, cleaner

Xinhua, April 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

The skiing events of the 2022 Winter Olympics are expected to help Chongli, a small town northwest of Beijing, become a greener and cleaner place.

The town in Zhangjiakou City, north China's Hebei Province, along with Beijing, was last year chosen to host the Games. Since the successful bid, it has begun a huge afforestation project and is starting to make its air cleaner.

The government of Zhangjiakou said on Tuesday that it aims to increase the city's forest coverage to 50 percent, up from the current 37 percent or 1.3 million hectares.

In addition, 150,350 hectares of land will also be regreened this year, double the space last year.

Chongli, which is about 200 km northwest of Beijing, has five ski resorts. The Winter Olympic bid has already helped boost the town's image as a destination for winter sports.

The forestry bureau said that planting will be prioritized in the sports venues and along major roads.

Besides planting, over the next three years Hebei will use more cleaner coal. Coal burning has been cited as a major source of emissions in the region.

Zhangjiakou's environment department has invited environmental experts from Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University to assist in developing the city's Air Quality Improvement Plan for 2016-2022.

One goal is to keep the amount of PM2.5 particles within 25 micrograms per cubic meter. The current average PM2.5 density is 34 micrograms per cubic meter, figures with the municipal environment bureau show. Endi