China's Ministry of Environmental Protection and Ministry of Agriculture have jointly issued a circular, asking the burning of straw, grass and leaves to be banned in Beijing and its surrounding areas from May to September to ensure the air quality during the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.

According to the circular, from early May to late September, the burning of these materials should be completely banned in such key areas as Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Liaoning, particularly in the districts of each of the municipalities, provincial capitals and major cities of these areas.

In recent years, Beijing's air quality has been affected by the frequent burning of materials in the city's surrounding areas. In June 2007 alone, Beijing saw two days of bad air quality as a result of burning in the neighboring areas. According to MEP, from May to June of last year, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui saw 280, 1013, 357, 592 and 577 incidents of burnings, respectively, which increased compared with that the same period of the previous year.

The two ministries ask strict measures to be taken to ensure there is no burning in each of the areas and a measure to be adopted to enhance the responsibilities of the concerned parties. In addition, MEP will make use of satellite remote sensing technology to monitor the cities.