Press conference scene

   (BEIJING, March 1) -- The Beijing Municipality has urged its citizens to raise their level of civility and better prepare themselves for the 2008 Olympic Games.

   "We need to cultivate civic virtues, enhance the observance of public order, upgrade the level of service and strive to bring about a new social environment," said Zhang Huiguang, director of the office in charge of the capital city's spiritual civilization under the Municipal Government.

   The city is focusing on ten key tasks, she told a press conference jointly held by the Information Office of the Beijing Municipal Government, Zhang's office and the Beijing Olympic Media Center today. The ten tasks are as follows:

   -- engage in civility education by dispatching related manuals to 4.3 million families;

   -- implement civility model program by selecting outstanding persons and setting up demonstration zones on key public places;

   -- enhance popularization and education of Olympic knowledge;

   -- create safe and smooth public transport and civilized riding habit;

   -- cultivate civic virtues among spectators;

   -- call on public servants to commit themselves to becoming a good citizen first;

   -- mobilize service sector to vie for being industry of civility;

   -- tackle environmental problems by demolishing illegal buildings and outdoor advertisements;

   -- axe chronic urban illnesses such as spitting, littering and pet faeces; and

   -- maintain public hygiene.

   Zhang promised that the city will beef up construction of infrastructure and reasonable deploy trash cans, enhance information dissemination, public monitoring and law enforcement as well as establish a long-term mechanism to assess the civility work.

   Reviewing the achievements in 2005, Zhang said the city paid great attention to publicity and education on civility. A total of 1.5 million copies of the reader on civility has been released, and riders' orderly queuing is a scene now in more than 200 bus stops in the city as a result of the campaign for being a polite passenger.

Zhang Huaiguang answeres a question from the press.

A reporter asks a question.