(BEIJING, November 2) -- Beijing and its neighboring provinces will take synchronized measures to ensure the air quality for the 2008 Olympic Games, said a Xinhua report.

In the run-up to the Games, they must take comprehensive measures to tackle environmental issues. Beijing has to ensure that the exposed ground surfaces in the areas around the Olympic venues are clean and request polluting enterprises to self-finance power generation for desulfurization and dust precipitation purposes, according to a program worked out by the relevant governments and the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) that has been approved by the central government.

During the Olympics, from August 8 to 24 and the Paralympics, from September 6 to 17, Beijing, parts of Tianjin Municipality, and Hebei Province will take temporary measures to reduce air pollution emissions; Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Shandong will control coal burning, the report said.