Beijing: Beijing municipal government ordered more than 1,200 factories in the printing, construction materials and petrochemical industries citywide to either suspend or cut output after earlier issuing this year’s first red alert warning for severely high levels of air pollution.
Under a contingency plan for severe air pollution, the city shut down more than 700 plants with production procedures that will pollute air and required 500 more to reduce production, according to a statement posted on the municipal government website on Saturday. Beijing Jingmei Chemical Industry Co. and an oil refinery plant of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. are among the factories to cut output, while a BBMG Corporation subsidiary’s mortar plant is among those closed.
Beijing strengthened emergency measures after the alert was issued on Thursday to restrict vehicle usage in an effort to help clear the air. As part of the plan, vehicles considered the worst offenders are restricted from the roads when orange and red alerts are in place. Bloomberg
