Shanghai and its neighboring regions are implementing a string of measures to guarantee good air quality and a healthy environment for the upcoming World Expo 2010 to be held in the city from May 1 to October 31.

A worker is seen on the Bund in Shanghai municipality of east China, January 26, 2010. The reconstruction of the Bund, the landmark of Shanghai and EXPO 2010, is to finished by the end of March. [Xinhua]

The Shanghai environmental protection bureau told Xinhua Friday that the measures mainly targeted coal-fired power plants and other polluting sectors, boilers, furnaces and kilns, volatile organic pollutants, dust, motor vehicles and agricultural burn-off.

The measures would have long-term effects and continue after the World Expo 2010, said bureau chief Zhang Quan.

In 2009, Shanghai recorded COD (chemical oxygen demand) emissions of 243,400 tonnes, a decline of 8.74 percent from the 2008 level, and sulfur dioxide emissions of 379,000 tonnes, down 15.05 percent, according to the bureau. The percentages placed Shanghai on top of the list of Chinese cities in terms of year-on-year reduction rates for COD and sulfur dioxide emissions.

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2010)