BEIJING

Beijing has banned smoking in taxis to help create a "nonsmoking" Olympics next summer, state media reported Tuesday.

Xinhua News Agency said smoking had been banned in all of the city's 66,000 taxis.

Drivers will be fined 100 yuan to 200 yuan (US$13 to US$26; £á9.10 to £á18.30) if caught smoking in cabs.

Passengers caught smoking will have their names "exposed through media," Xinhua quoted Ma Yanjie, deputy head of the city's taxi bureau, as saying.

Green-colored "No Smoking" signs have been posted in most taxis for the ban that started Monday, Xinhua said.

Beijing has implemented a long list of measures to clean up the city and its citizens for the Games that start Aug. 8.

The list includes plans to limit the number of cars, and to close foul-smelling factories to improve Beijing's notorious and noxious air pollution.

Etiquette campaigns are also afoot to stamp out bad manners like jumping ahead in line, spitting, littering and reckless driving.

Menu names are being revised as part of an effort to ban unintelligible English, known as "Chinglish," that abounds on signs everywhere.

Stamping out smoking may be difficult in Beijing, where almost half the male population smoke, Xinhua said. It cited a survey conducted by Horizon Research Consultancy Group.

It said Ministry of Health statistics showed that 350 million people smoke in China, equal to 26 percent of the country's population and a third of the world's smoking population. One million people die from smoking-related diseases each year in China.