Beijing citizens have seen 219 days of "satisfactory?air quality so far this year, 11 days more than the 60 per cent quota set for 2003.

"It is a big step on the way to get a clean Beijing,?said Pei Chenghu, deputy head of the municipal bureau of environmental protection, on Saturday.

He said this year the capital had 119 more satisfactory days than in 1998, when it began taking effective moves to improve air pollution.

Several measures taken by the municipal government this year attributed to better air quality, said Pei. The four downtown districts adopted natural gas and electricity for boilers and heating facilities, instead of coal.