Olympic host Beijing will continue to provide convenience for agricultural products transport from outside to the capital to ensure their supply during the Games, a Beijing top official has said.
Liu Qi, the capital's Communist Party chief and president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games, said efforts should be made to increase agricultural products reserve via the local and outside vegetable sources.
Meanwhile, food safety efforts should not be loosened to prevent "problematic" agricultural products from entering the municipal market, said Liu in an inspection on Saturday of the capital's largest wholesale market for agricultural products in Fengtai District.
Major vegetables have seen a supply decrease of around 10 percent in recent days in Beijing and their prices rose by 65 percent on the average, according to a municipal agricultural official.
One factor was the decrease of vehicles transporting agricultural products due to drivers' concerns over the capital's planned vehicle limit policies for the Games.
Highway toll will continue to be exempted for agricultural products vehicles into Beijing and special passes should be issued to them to ensure the smooth transport within the capital, Liu said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2008)