China's Industrial Belt Struggles to Control PollutionNortheastern provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang has been making every effort to meet State deadlines in controlling industrial pollution.In a decision to control growing industrial pollution following 18 years of high economic growth, the central government vowed four years ago to close down all the polluting industrial firms that failed to meet industrial pollution discharge standards set by both the central and local governments by the end of 2000. Statistics show that by the end of June only 82 percent of the 13,800 firms in Liaoning have met the standards, while 73 percent of the 5,600 firms in Jilin and 75 percent of the 2,900 firms in Heilongjiang were up to standards. In comparison, 86 percent of all the 230,000 industrial firms across China were up to the standard. Progress made by the northeastern provinces is still considered significant by many observers as many of the polluting firms in the economically-troubled region are still too poor to build pollution-control facilities without the government's financial support. Leading provincial and municipal government officials in the region have done all they can to help many polluting firms meet the deadline, including funding support for financially difficult firms. The region has also worked hard to use financial resources such as donations collected by the central government and loans from the World Bank to build waste water treatment plants and promote clean production among large firms. In Shenyang, the largest industrial center in the region, 54 firms have been closed down because they were heavy polluters and appeared unable to meet the deadline set by local governments. The move also sent a message to all the polluting firms that the government is serious in control pollution. In Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, Zhang Junxian, director of the Changchun Environmental Protection Bureau, said the Bureau has sent its officials to every key polluting firms who are having difficulty meeting the deadline. "The officials are told to stay in the designated firms to ensure the Bureau is satisfied that firms are doing something to cut pollution and are going to meet the deadline." For those who could not meet the deadline, local governments plan to close down those outdated and firms considered to be loosing money. Leading environmental officials in the region say more than 90 percent of the polluting firms are expected to meet the deadline. China has closed more than 60,000 polluting small firms over the past few years. |
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