China steps up bio surveillance for safe Olympics

    BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Beijing is exerting "dynamic surveillance" over the city's microorganism labs to ensure bio-security and ward off possible bio-terrorism during the coming Olympics.

    Beijing's Health Bureau urged health departments of the city's 18 districts and counties to step up their bio-safety work to ensure bio-security, according to The Beijing News on Sunday.

    Concerning pivotal links such as preserving and storing germs and virus, the bureau requested heads of relevant departments with affiliated microorganism labs to be "fully responsible" for the labs' security.

    In cooperation with the city's anti-terrorism office, the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau was busy registering the labs, the report said. It added that those not recorded would be forbidden from continuing relevant experiments.

    On Friday, the country's aviation authority adopted more stringent safety check measures, banning passengers from carrying liquids onto domestic flights. This was part of its efforts to tighten security with the summer Olympics only five months away.