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Shougang may halt production for Olympics Leader of a Beijing-based steel giant said Tuesday that his company may slow down or suspend production during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to curb pollution. "We'll take substantial measures, including production slowdown and suspension, to reduce pollution as we are able to move all the polluting plants by the time the Olympics opens," said Zhu Jimin, president of Beijing Shougang Group, one of the largest steel and iron maker in China.
Zhu, also a deputy to the National People's Congress, told the delegation of lawmakers from Beijing that his steel company has a major role to play in cleaning and purifying Beijing's atmospheric air. "We'll seek technological advancement this year to further stem pollution in the desulfurization process." Founded in 1919, Shougang has widely been cited as the flagship of China's industry. But in the past decade, its name has become tarnished and more closely associated with air pollution. According to sources from the Beijing Environmental Protection Monitor Center, air quality of the national capital has improved in recent years. In 2004, 62.5 percent of the days were ranked "fine" or "fairly good" with pollution reading below 100. But in Shijingshan district in western Beijing, where Shougang is located, it was only 50.4 percent. Environmental experts fear Beijing's air quality will not meet the standard the government promised in its effort to host the 2008 Olympics unless Shougang is moved out of the city. According to the company's relocation plan, Shougang will reduce annual output of Beijing factories to 4 million tons by 2007. Steel production will come to a half in the capital by 2010, while the headquarters, research and development section, sales department and logistical center will remain in Beijing. "We've spent 1.8 billion yuan (US$217 million) on environmental protection since 1995," said Shougang's Vice-President Wang Qinghai. "The spending will average at least 200 million yuan (US$24 million) for each of the coming five years." |
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