Shanxi Province is to close down more than 100
labor-intensive, low value-added and heavy-pollution enterprises,
and to paralyze dozens of facilities that cause serious pollution,
reported the Xinhua News Agency Sunday.
The provincial government will revoke the licenses of those
blacklisted enterprises, and all the heavy-pollution facilities
will be taken down by the end of November 2007.
Since its launch by the provincial government in 2004, the
blacklist has witnessed the elimination of thousands of enterprises
and facilities in the region.
China's newly released government work report has attached great
importance to environment protection, placing it on the same level
as GDP (gross domestic products) growth, rural issues, healthcare
and education.
It is reported that Luliang in Shanxi Province along with three
other cities have been blacklisted by China's top environmental
watchdog on November 10 for performing poorly on their
environmental impact assessments (EIAs).
"All new projects launched in the four cities will be halted by
the SEPA (State Environmental Protection Administration)," said Pan
Yue, the spokesman for SEPA.
"The cities do not have the environmental capacity to handle
more pollutants," Pan said. "And yet they still develop industries
that consume a lot of resources and produce a lot of
pollution."
The other three cities are Tangshan in Hebei Province, Liupanshui in Guizhou Province and Laiwu in Shandong Province.
(China Daily March 13, 2007)
