Key Industries Reduce Redundant Production CapacityChina has made significant progress in phasing out redundant and outdated production means this year, said a senior official with the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) in Beijing Tuesday, December 19.The textile, metallurgical, coal and sugar industries all reported better economic returns as a result of such efforts, said Shi Wanpeng, vice-minister of SETC, at a national conference. The textile industry is expected to earn 24 billion yuan in profit after reducing 300,000 cotton weaving spindles this year, an increase of 10 billion yuan from last year's level, according to Shi. Exports of textile products and garments will exceed US$50 billion, an annual growth rate of over 20 percent, he said. Steel output was down to 115 million tons this year, with key iron and steel companies to earn over 13 billion yuan by the end of the year. China shut down 40,000 small mines and reduced 328 million tons of coal in production from January to October. Coal output is to hit 950 million tons and coal exports will exceed 58 million tons, according to Shi. With similar efforts, the sugar sector has begun to turn around three consecutive years of losses and is to earn a profit of 600 million yuan in 2000, from a loss of 220 million yuan in 1999. More than 100 small refineries were shut down during the same period, reducing the processing capacity of crude oil by 11 million tons. Meanwhile, 70-million-ton cement productivity and 10 million kilowatts of power generation capacity by small thermal plants are expected to be demolished by the end of the year. However, Shi cautioned against a comeback of redundant construction with the booming market demand and price hike of some products. |
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