Beijing has carefully mapped out its pollution control measures to be implemented in time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting which it will host  in November.

The measures to bring down the pollution level will focus on cutting emissions by vehicles and industrial plants.

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Amid the severe pollution that hit Beijing in past days, anti-pollution czars are racing against time to improve air quality starting November 3 when Asian leaders converge in the capital for a 10-day APEC summit.

Last Thursday, municipal authorities raised the smog alert to orange, the second highest level of pollution before red. The severe pollution was expected to remain until Saturday.

Traffic authorities said that from November 3-12, Beijing will ban the use of private vehicles on the streets using the number coding scheme. This will reduce the number of vehicles plying the roads by 35 percent, said the municipal traffic committee Thursday.

The anti-pollution officers said trucks and vehicles transporting wastes and chemicals will be barred from passing the city's roads during this period. Taxis, buses, and other vehicles such as squad and police cars will not be covered by the ban.

The anti-pollution authorities said the same measures were used by the city to lower the pollution level during the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau said it will deploy 400 more buses in the city during the summit to meet the demands of the commuters whose number is expected to increase by 3 million a day.

The municipal government has likewise drawn up plans to control industrial pollution by suspending work at several companies for the duration of the forum.

Work at construction and demolition projects will be suspended for 10 days, as well as production in several companies that will be listed by the government

Beijing has also sought the cooperation of its neighbors who promised to work with the city to control emissions.

Neighboring authorities and Beijing have started regular discussions on air pollution and six governments have vowed to adopt strict pollution control measures during the 10 days of the forum.

"Beijing will make every effort to prepare for the APEC meeting and we need to control air and water pollution," said Guo Jinlong, the city's Party chief.

TagsAPEC, Pollution, smog, smog alert, anti-pollution, economic leaders' meeting