China has begun relocating a significant part of its steel-producing capacity from the capital of Beijing to a neighboring province.
The 2.8 billion yuan (about us$341 million) relocation project consists of moving 75 percent of the iron and steel production capacity of Beijing Shougang Group from the city's western outskirt an area, formerly known as Capital Iron and Steel Company, to a rural part of Qian'an city in Hebei province.
The move constitutes one of a series of measures carried out by Beijing municipality to reduce its industrial pollution during the period leading up to its hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
Qian'an city is one of the country's four largest mineral resource centers in China.
The relocation project stipulates that, by the year 2008, China is expected to build an iron and steel plant in Qian'an with a designed capacity of turning out 2 million tons of iron and steel, 3 million tons of iron and steel by-products and 2.74 million tons of rolled steel or rolled steel plates.
In an effort to reduce industrial pollution, the Beijing steel giant has shifted its business focus to high-tech and "cleaner" industrial goods, such as micro-electronic products and industrial robots.
Senior managers of the corporation have said that non-iron and steel products currently account for about half of the group's overall business volume.
(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2003)
