The Beijing municipal development and reform authorities will carry out checks on local enterprises in a bid to boost clean production that serve the improvement of local environment and energy-saving.

The municipal government has issued a regulation concerning enterprises' clean production that will help enforce the National Provisional Measures on Clean Production Examination made by the State Council in October 2004, said Zhang Yanyou, an official with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

The local regulation requires enterprises with heavy discharge of pollutants in their production to conduct internal checks in two months and then make necessary changes to pass the clean production check in a year, China Daily quotes Zhang as saying at a press conference on Tuesday.

The government will give financial assistance to expensive renovations that are needed.

Fei Xiang, another official with the commission, said about 500 million yuan (US$62 million) would be allotted this year to help small and medium-sized enterprises to realize clean production.

Those enterprises that pass the check in one year will be eligible to apply for the title of "Environment-friendly Enterprise."

According to Zhang, Beijing started to build clean production projects in 1993. So far, the city has carried out 1,250 clean production projects in 55 enterprises.

"The new regulation will be a substantial step in our efforts to turn the capital into a resource-saving and environment-friendly metropolis," Zhang said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 19, 2006)