The Beijing city government has started banning certain cars and government vehicles from its roads in an effort to ensure skies are clear for the upcoming WWII anniversary parade on September 3.Starting August 20, drivers will be limited to taking their vehicles out in Beijing and other cities depending on license plates that end with odd or even numbers.Four-fifths of government vehicles are to be kept off roads each day leading up to the WWII commemoration.Beijing and Tianjin, along with the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Henan, and Inner Mongolia region will limit industrial, power plant and construction activity from August 28 to September 4, said Zhang Gong, the capital’s vice mayor.Some 10,000 factories will stop operations or cut production and more than 40,000 construction sites will be closed to help clear the oft-polluted skies above Beijing, Zhang said. The efforts are intended to reduce emissions of major air pollutants by 40 percent in Beijing and 30 percent in other areas compared to the same period last year.Zhang added that emergency measures will be considered for cutting pollution if weather conditions are a problem, although he did not provide details on what those actions might entail.
