SHENYANG, Sept. 11 -- Chinese steel giant Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corporation (Ansteel) began the process of dismantling six outdated coking furnaces as the company works to meet modern pollution standards.

Excavators and forklifts began taking apart four 4-meter-high coking furnaces on Wednesday. Another two 5-meter-high coking furnaces were suspended from operation and will be demolished soon. In total the furnaces had a production capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per year, according to Zhang Anyang, head of Ansteel's coking plant.

Ansteel, which was blacklisted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on July 16 for failing to dismantle outdated facilities and discharging excessive pollutants, has been under great pressure to improve its reputation.

The six coking furnaces, which were put into operation in the 1980s, will be replaced with two low-emission modernized coking furnaces, said Zhang.

After removing the six furnaces, Ansteel could reduce emission of 1,600 tons of smoke and dust, 170 tons of sulfur dioxide and 600 tons of nitric oxide every year, he said.

Ansteel promised to invest 7.1 billion yuan (1.16 billion U.S. dollars) from 2013 to 2015 to carry out 68 pollution-reduction programs.

Based in Anshan City, Liaoning, Ansteel is one of China's largest iron and steel corporations. The company's reserves account for one-fourth of the country's total.

The Shenzhen and Hong Kong-listed Ansteel reaped 577 million yuan in profits and 38.2 billion yuan in sales revenues in the first half of 2014, according to its interim report released in August.