THE top official in China’s northern province of Hebei has vowed to use the staging of the 2022 Winter Olympics to drive efforts to cut smog, promote clean energy and ease dependence on heavy industry.

    The city of Zhangjiakou, around 200 km from Beijing, will stage skiing and snowboarding events during the 2022 Winter Games, awarded to China last year.

    But the plan has fueled concern, as Beijing is prone to air pollution and Hebei was home to China’s seven smoggiest cities last year, largely because of its dependence on heavy industries, such as coal-fired power and steel production.

    Speaking at a weekend meeting on preparations for the Olympics, Zhao Kezhi, the provincial Communist Party chief, said Hebei would work to meet targets for cutting industrial overcapacity, coal consumption and air pollution.

    “We must use the staging of the Winter Olympics as an opportunity to stimulate economic and social development, speed up our transformation and upgrading, expand effective investment and strengthen poverty alleviation,” Zhao said, in an account of the meeting published on Hebei’s government website Monday.

    Hebei aims to cut coal consumption by 40 million tons over the period from 2013 to 2017 and slash its 2013 levels of small particulate matter in almost half by 2020. It will also reduce annual crude steel capacity below 200 million tons by 2020.

    Zhao said the plans included the planting of new forest and the creation of an ecological conservation zone around Zhangjiakou. China has pledged to hold an environmentally friendly Winter Games.

    Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Games to wide acclaim, but its bid for the Winter Games was dogged by concerns over issues ranging from the city’s smog problem to a lack of snow.(SD-Agencies)