By 2005, 500 hectares of Beijing will be green with trees and flowers, said sources with the municipal parks and woods bureau on Thursday.

One million trees and three million flowers will be planted in the Beijing, making 200 more hectares of the city green.

By the end of December 2004, Beijing had 41.8 percent of its area covered by trees and flowers, meaning that it met its goal of 40 percent one year ahead of schedule.

According to the goals of holding a "Green Olympics" in 2008, Beijing will make 45 percent of its area planted with trees and flowers with the average per capita public green area reaching 15 square meters.

To realize this goal, the city will build or rebuild 100 parks and tree-lined avenues and 100 new green communities in 2005, said sources with the municipal parks and woods.

Also in 2005, Beijing's walls, roofs and balconies will be planted. Buildings alongside main avenues of the city will have 100 thousand square meters of their roofs become green.

More than 10,000 meters of public greenbelts will be built in suburb of Beijing this year and disaster prevention establishments will be set up in these belts.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2005)