BEIJING -- Beijing has cleared the mud in a suburban river that cuts through the park that will host the international horticultural exhibition in 2019, the municipal government said Tuesday.

The project, which started in June, has excavated 631,100 cubic meters of mud from a 12-km section of the Guihe River in Yanqing district in northern Beijing. The mud-clearing is part of ongoing efforts to improve the river's ecology. The government plans to grow reeds and lotuses in the river and build a wooden walkway for tourists in 2018.

Beijing was awarded the host role by the Paris-headquartered Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) for the 2019 Horticultural Expo with the theme "Live Green, Live Better." Nearly 70 countries and international organizations worldwide have been confirmed to participate, the organizing committee said last month.