FACTBOX: Beijing's battle for blue skies

(Reuters) - China's capital has spent 140 billion yuan ($20.34 billion) to combat chronic pollution and create a clean, green Beijing ahead of the August 8-24 Olympics.

Here are some of the green moves the city of 15 million people and 3 million cars has announced:

SWITCHING FROM COAL TO GAS

-- Already the top consumer of natural gas among Chinese cities, Beijing's usage grew to an estimated 4.7 billion cubic meters in 2007 as it tried to cut back on the 26 million tonnes of polluting coal it consumes a year.

-- By the end of 2006, 15,200 coal-fired boilers, of 16,300 in the city, were converted to natural gas or other clean fuels.

CLOSING OR RELOCATING HEAVY POLLUTERS

-- Authorities in Tangshan, an industrial city north of Beijing, ordered 267 firms to shut down operations by July 8 to improve air quality ahead of the Olympics.

-- Tianjin, a port city just east of Beijing, ordered 40 factories to shut from July 25 to September 20.

-- Steel-maker Capital Steel, long Beijing's worst polluter, has relocated most operations out to coastal Hebei Province, with the rest to follow by 2010. In July 2006, production ceased at another major polluter, the Beijing Coking and Chemical Factory.