Construction stopped, factories closed to cut pollution in Beijing

BEIJING (AP) -- Construction will halt, heavy industries will close, and even spray painting will stop in order to clean Beijing's polluted air for the Olympics -- an issue that suddenly has taken a back seat to political protests.

An aggressive plan to temporarily shutter belching steel and chemical plants, cut back emissions by 30 percent at 19 heavy-polluting companies and stop excavation and pouring of concrete at hundreds of sites around the city was explained Monday by the city's Environmental Protection Bureau.

"From the suggestions of experts we think that we need to take these measures to guarantee the air quality of Beijing," said Du Shaozhong, the bureau's deputy director.

The measures are severe and will be in effect officially for two months -- July 20-Sept. 20 -- although reports a few months ago suggest some production cutbacks may come even sooner.

Officials also are expected to ban about half of Beijing's 3.3 million vehicles for the Aug. 8-24 Olympics. Du said specific details would be announced later.