Industrial polluters given two months to close

Industry chiefs have warned more than 2,000 companies to close obsolete production facilities within two months or face cuts in credit and a suspension of government approval.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology set the end of September as the deadline for firms to shut down outdated facilities in a move to cut overcapacity and raise the level of economic growth.

The government order involves 2,087 companies, according to a document released Sunday by the ministry.

The order affects 18 industries: iron, steel, coke, iron alloys, calcium carbide, electrolytic aluminium, copper smelting, lead smelting, zinc smelting, cement, paper-making, glass, ethanol, monosodium glutamate, citric acid, leather-making, printing and dying and chemical fibers.

The cement, paper-making and iron sectors had the most numbers of companies ordered to close outdated energy-consuming and polluting capacities.

Liuzhou Iron and Steel, according to the government decree, would need to slash 2 million tons of outdated iron-making capacity while 762 cement companies were also targeted.

Companies that fail to do so before the deadline will have their waste discharge licenses revoked, said Li Yizhong, minister of Industry and Information Technology.

Bank loans and new project approvals from the government will not be provided to those companies who fail to clean up, Li said.

Failing companies will not be allowed to appeal to land management authorities for more new land for their projects and their production licenses will also be recalled by relevant authorities, Li said.

Companies could face possible power cuts from suppliers if they fail the mission, he said.
“Outdated capacities consume energy, pollute the environment and are safety risks. They reflect the very crude and quantitative mode of economic growth,” Li said.

“They are also the causes of the low quality, inefficiency and weak competitiveness in our national economic development,” he said.

He said only by speeding up elimination of outdated capacity would the country be able to upgrade its industrial structure and improve international competitiveness.

The government has set a target to improve energy efficiency by 20 percent from 2005 levels by the end of the year.

Energy use per unit of economic output fell by 15.7 percent at the end of last year, and the government is facing heavy pressure to hit its goal.

(Xinhua)