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China issued assurances on Tuesday that Beijing's air would be safe to breathe during the Olympics despite reports that world record holder Haile Gebrselassie planned to skip the marathon.

The 34-year-old Ethiopian, an asthma sufferer, is concerned that notorious pollution in the Chinese capital could damage his health and even bring his career to a premature end.

"He will probably not run the marathon in Beijing. It's not 100 percent sure but it looks like it because of the heat, humidity and the pollution," his manager Jos Hermans told AFP on Monday.

"Indeed it's 99 percent sure. He doesn't want to put his career in danger and he still wants to run at the 2012 Olympics in London."

International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge has expressed concern about air quality in Beijing and warned that endurance events such as the marathon could be postponed if pollution posed a threat to competitors' health.

However, Zhang Lijun, deputy director of China's State Environmental Protection Agency, said pollution would be reduced to acceptable levels during the 8-24 August Games.

"We can ensure that the air will be fine," Zhang told a press briefing on Tuesday.

"When China submitted its bid to host the Olympic Games in 2001, it made a solid commitment to (improve air quality)."

China has spent some $16-billion over the past decade on improving the environment and air quality by shifting polluting factories out of the capital, raising car emissions standards and other measures.

In addition, Beijing plans to ban around half the city's three million plus cars from the roads during the Games, and surrounding cities and provinces will join in the anti-pollution fight.

"According to predictions by experts, after we fully implement all the measures, during the Beijing Olympics, there will no problem with the air quality in Beijing to meet standards. We can deliver on our commitment," he said.

In a visit to Beijing in February Gebrselassie said that he did not want to miss the Beijing Olympics but was concerned about health risks.

"Compared to other events, the marathon is a very hard event for us in Beijing because of the bad air. It is 42 kilometres and lasts for more than two hours. To run that long in these conditions is very difficult," he said.

He said he would try to win selection for the 10 000 metres at trials for the Ethiopian team at a 24 May meeting in Hengelo in the Netherlands.

"I don't know what he will do if he doesn't qualify for the 10 000 metres," said manager Hermans.

AFP