A worker checks progress at the rolling mill of the Shijiazhuang Iron and Steel Co. The company will be relocated to Jingxing county, 70 kilometers away from downtown Shijiazhuang. Provided to China Daily
Move is expected to help improve cities' air quality greatly
A steel plant has been ordered to move out of Shijiazhuang, capital of North China's Hebei province, within the next two years to cut pollution in one of the nation's 10 most-polluted cities.
It is one of at least four such plants ordered to move from downtown areas in the nation's premier steelmaking province.
The Shijiazhuang Iron and Steel Co has also been told to reduce its production to help lessen China's overcapacity problem, and modernize its operations to become cleaner and more efficient, officials said.
Shijiazhuang in Hebei province /Image: BWPI
The company, a subsidiary of China's largest steelmaker, Hebei Iron and Steel Group, must finish the move from the Chang'an district of Shijiazhuang to Jingxing county by the end of 2017, according to a government announcement.
The new location is about 70 kilometers from its old site near the center of Shijiazhuang.
"The plant's relocation will decrease the smoke and dust in the city's air and thereby help improve downtown's air quality greatly," a government official surnamed Guo said...
