Shanghai Guoxuan High-Tech Power Energy Co said yesterday it will scrap plans for a battery factory in Songjiang District after residents protested against the project over environmental concerns.
The company said that it will return the land that was allocated to them for the project by the district government and "will not seek any compensation." The statement was broadcast on district TV channel yesterday.
Locals, worried about environmental concerns, had regularly demonstrated against it since late April after learning that a lithium-ion battery factory would be built in their vicinity.
The district government said that production at the factory had been shut since April 28 after holding talks with the company.
The residents, however, were wary of the fact that the factory continued to operate the rest of its divisions, and did not give up their protest.
Eventually, in a major victory for the protesters, Shanghai Guoxuan announced yesterday that it was halting all operations and was pulling out of the area completely.
The district government said yesterday that it will take into account the environmental concerns of both its citizens and enterprises for the sake of "sustained development of economy, society and ecological environment."
The government was handling the aftermath of the company's withdrawal.
The Shanghai Guoxuan is a branch of Guoxuan High-Tech Power Energy that is based in Hefei, Anhui Province.
More than 10,000 residents living in the district have signed a petition against the project with many others voicing their opposition to it on the Internet.
The residents fears were highlighted after a third-party evaluation by a government institute claimed that a total of 34 residential communities, a kindergarten and three rivers were found to be within 3 kilometers of the factory site.
But the report also claimed that the factory would not cause much pollution.
The company planned to produce 31,500 batteries a year.
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