中国关停污染企业营造绿色奥运

China's government, struggling to contain what could be an embarrassing pollution problem during the Beijing Olympics, is ordering the closure of certain factories across a huge swath of northern China ahead of this summer's Games.

Six provinces and municipalities -- Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Shanxi, Tianjin and Beijing -- have already started shutting down polluting factories and curbing power-plant production in an ambitious attempt to cut down on air pollution. Collectively, these provinces represent an area larger than France, Germany and Italy combined, but pollutants from factories far from Beijing are believed to be partially responsible for the capital's often smoggy air.

Du Shaozhong, deputy head of the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau, said Beijing is cooperating closely with these provinces 'to ensure good air quality for the Olympic Games,' which begin Aug. 8.

He said authorities have closed an unspecified number of factories in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, particularly cement, coke and small-sized steel producers. 'Seventy percent of these targeted enterprises in the program have been eliminated,' he said at a news conference.

In Beijing, there also are plans to curb the use of autos and halt construction before the Games to clear the air. Mr. Du declined to give details of the city's plans to curb traffic, saying they would be announced later. Beijing city officials have been considering a plan to cut the number of cars on its roads by half during the Games period. 'We will do something to control heavy enterprises and take some cars off the roads,' Mr. Du said.

Part of the city's massive construction works -- spanning some 100 million square meters, authorities say -- could also stop as early as May, according to people in the industry.

The measures are aimed at curbing the high levels of air pollution in Beijing, which may affect the performance of athletes during the Games. In August, levels of smog were so visibly bad that International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said during a live CNN interview that some events might have to be rescheduled, a source of embarrassment to Chinese officials.

The full extent of the pre-Olympic closures remains uncertain because authorities are weighing a multitude of contingency plans against Beijing's shifting pollution and smog levels. If the situation worsens, authorities may even consider a more sweeping shutdown of scores of power plants across northeast China, according to industry executives.

Beijing has long needed to crack down on badly polluting factories, which local governments have often resisted because they bring jobs and economic growth. While the Chinese government has been pushing nationwide environmental measures, the coming Olympics appear to have accelerated the closure or suspension of many plants in the less-industrialized north.

Other previous host cities such as Athens, Seoul and Los Angeles also reduced their traffic and shut factories during their Games. But their measures will be dwarfed by Beijing's efforts, which are likely the widest-ranging series of measures of this nature ever adopted by a Games host city, said Holger Preuss, an Olympics scholar from Germany's Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz.

Indeed, wrote Dr. Preuss in an email response, Beijing's measures to reduce pollutants -- some of which will extend past the Games -- 'may be one of the real Olympic legacies, and not the construction of great sport facilities.'

Analysts say Chinese officials are reluctant to release details about the closures for fear of damping economic investment in northern China, particularly in places such as Tianjin, a fast-rising industrial area where Airbus is building an assembly plant and some Motorola cellphones are made.

Andy Xie, an independent economist formerly with Morgan Stanley, estimates the effect of the Olympic slowdown on China's overall economy is likely to be small. Even without the Olympics, economists predict China's gross-domestic-product growth will slow this year, down from a record 11.4% growth in 2007 to perhaps 9% on the low end of predictions, thanks to slowing global demand and credit contraction.

Yet, the suspensions and closures are likely to have a much bigger impact on the region around Beijing, including major companies such as Beijing Eastern Petrochemical Co., China's largest manufacturer of polyvinyl acetate. Beijing Eastern is owned by China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec.

One plant affected by the Olympic cleanup is a Beijing Eastern factory in southeast Beijing, which will be closed by the end of June, according to the Xinhua news agency. Workers at the plant confirmed that the factory -- which employs about 1,000 people -- will be suspending operations in May and reopening in a new facility in southwest Beijing at year's end. Many workers don't know what they will do in the interim, or if they will continue to receive their wages. 'No one knows what will happen tomorrow,' one worker said.

More than 40 other pollutant-generating factories in Beijing also will close this year, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Industrial Development. The move, tied to the Olympics, follows the closure last year of some 29 factories in industries ranging from cement kilns to paper. Some 18 factories that voluntarily closed in 2007 were compensated with a total of $3 million, said an official at the bureau, who said these closures were to help clear the air before the Games.

In a news conference Tuesday, Shanxi officials said they had closed 24 factories recently. Wang Jian, a director at the State Environmental Protection Agency, or SEPA, said there would be more closures to come, in a campaign lasting from January to June. During the news conference, officials outlined measures such as stopping electricity and halting bank loans in order to coerce certain companies to close. Mr. Wang told reporters the closures were Olympics related.

Tianjin authorities also said in a recent news release they would reduce sulfur dioxide emissions -- a toxic pollutant -- at power plants by 800 tons before May 10 as part of the Olympic cleanup.

Some moves have been long planned. For example, state-owned steel factory Shougang Group, one of Beijing's worst polluters, is being relocated to a multibillion facility in Caofeidian, a port city, a move likely subsidized with government money. Shougang has also said it would halve its production this year, and may shut down production several months ahead of the Games.

Chinese officials have been on the defensive about the extent of the pollution problem after foreign experts questioned the veracity of Beijing's pollution data. In an opinion piece published this month in The Wall Street Journal, environment consultant Steven Andrews accused Beijing's scientists of selectively using data and changing standards to ensure more favorable air-quality readings.

Beijing Environment Protection's Mr. Du said their readings are accurate. 'Some reports blamed us and we think it's not fair,' Mr. Du told reporters yesterday.

In an unusual move, he appealed to reporters to write reports boosting Beijing's credibility among Olympic athletes overseas. Some Olympic teams say they plan to avoid Beijing's possibly toxic air by showing up for only their events or wearing face masks, moves that would undoubtedly damp China's elaborately planned festivities.

'We need help from the media,' said Mr. Du. 'Tell them what you see with your own eyes.'

为了在北京奥运会期间将令人尴尬的污染问题控制住，中国政府决定赶在奥运会开幕前关闭一批分布在广袤华北地区的工厂。

为了减轻空气污染，华北地区的六个省市和自治区－－河北、内蒙古、山东、山西、天津和北京已经在着手清理高污染工厂并限制发电站的生产。这六个省市和自治区的总面积超过了法国、德国和意大利的国土面积总和。虽然污染源远离北京，但却是首都浓雾天气的形成原因之一。

北京市环保局副局长杜少中表示，北京正与周边省区市紧密合作，“以确保奥运会期间空气质量良好”。北京奥运会将于8月8日开幕。

杜少中在新闻发布会上表示，北京、天津和河北等地已淘汰一批水泥、土焦和小钢铁企业，完成率在70%以上。不过他没有透露关停企业的具体数目。

此外，北京市也计划在奥运会前采取限制汽车上路和暂停建筑施工等措施来改善空气质量。他没有透露限制汽车上路措施的具体办法，但表示政府会在晚些时候公布。在此之前，北京市政府一直在考虑采用“单双号制度”将奥运期间上路的汽车数量减少一半。杜少中称，政府将采取措施限制大型企业的污染排放和一部分机动车上路。

据建筑行业的人士透露，北京市内分布的众多建筑项目可能最早于5月份开始暂停施工。据相关部门的数据，目前北京市在建项目的面积大约为100平方公里。

上述种种措施，都是为了改善北京市严重的空气污染，以免因此影响运动员的比赛成绩。去年8月份，北京的烟尘污染水平一度亮起红灯，以致于国际奥委会(International Olympic Committee)主席罗格(Jacques Rogge)在接受有线电视新闻网(CNN)直播专访时表示，某些赛事可能不得不重新安排。这件事令中国政府甚为难堪。

中国究竟计划在多大的范围实行这种关停政策还不得而知。因为政府方面还在制定多套应急方案来应对北京多变的烟尘和污染水平。据行业管理人士透露，如果情况恶化，政府甚至可能会考虑进一步关闭东北地区的发电厂。

虽然中国早有必要关闭这些重污染企业，但出于对地方就业和经济增长等方面的考虑，各地政府一直无动于衷。虽然中国政府一直在全国范围推行环保，但在工业化程度偏低的华北地区，污染企业的关停进度因为奥运会而看上去加快了。

德国约翰内斯•古腾堡大学(Johannes Gutenberg-University)奥运学者霍格•普鲁斯(Holger Preuss)称，雅典、首尔、洛杉矶等奥运会主办城市也曾经在奥运会期间采取限制汽车上路和关闭工厂等措施。但其力度较之中国却相差甚远。在历届奥运会中，中国采取的一系列环保措施可能是涉及范围最广的。

普鲁斯在回复记者的电邮中称，实际上，中国政府采取的一些减排措施将在奥运会结束后继续执行，“这或许会成为壮观的奥运场馆之外真正的奥运遗产之一”。

分析师表示，中国政府不愿透露关停工厂的具体情况，可能是怕因此损害华北的投资吸引力，特别是天津等迅速崛起的工业区。目前，空中客车(Airbus)正在天津建造飞机组装厂，而且摩托罗拉的一些手机也是在此地生产。

曾供职摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)的独立经济学家谢国忠(Andy Xie)认为，奥运相关措施导致的一些增长放慢对中国经济的总体影响并不大。经济学家们认为，受全球需求下滑和信贷紧缩的影响，即使没有奥运的负面影响，今年中国的国内生产总值(GDP)增速也会放缓。2007年中国的GDP增幅高达11.4%，而根据预测今年的增幅可能最低滑落至9%。

然而，关停措施可能会对北京周边地区的经济产生较大的影响，诸如北京东方石油化工有限公司(Beijing Eastern Petrochemical Co.)之类的大型企也会受到牵连。这家公司隶属于中国石化集团(China Petrochemical Corp.)，是中国最大的聚酸乙烯酯生产商。

东方石化旗下位于北京东南方向的一家工厂就是受影响的企业之一。据新华社报导，该厂将在6月底之前关闭。这家工厂有大约一千名员工。据该厂职工透露，工厂拟于5月份暂时停产，待搬迁至北京西南部的新厂址后于年底恢复生产。许多职工还不知道在此期间该干些什么，也不知道工资是否照常发放。工人们表示，没人知道明天会怎样。

据北京市工业促进局(Beijing Municipal Bureau of Industrial Development)称，今年北京还将关闭四十余家污染企业。去年北京已经根据奥运的要求关闭了29家工厂，涉及水泥、造纸等行业。据该部门一位官员透露，18家自愿关停的企业将获得总计300万美元的补偿。关闭这些企业是为了在奥运会开幕前改善北京的空气质量。

在周二召开的新闻发布会上，山西省官员表示，该省最近已关闭了24家企业。国家环境保护总局(State Environmental Protection Agency)污染控制司主任汪键表示，污染清理行动将从1月份持续到6月份，还会有更多工厂被关闭。政府官员在新闻发布会上表示，将采取诸如断电和停止银行贷款等手段迫使企业停产。他告诉记者，这些措施是为了配合奥运会。

天津政府也在最近发布的一份新闻稿中表示，为了配合奥运会的减排行动，要在5月10日之前将电厂的二氧化硫排放量减少800吨。

其实，部分减排规划酝酿已久。例如将首都钢铁集团(Shougang Group)旗下的钢铁厂搬迁至河北曹妃甸。首钢集团可谓北京的污染大户，此次搬迁应该是得到了政府的补贴。首钢集团还表示，将把今年的产量削减一半，还有可能在奥运会开幕前几个月开始停产。

针对中国的实际污染状况，有外国专家对中国官方的数据提出质疑，中国政府则一直试图为自己辩护。环境专家史蒂文•安德鲁斯(Steven Andrews)本月在《华尔街日报》撰文称，为了取得更“好看”的空气质量纪录，中国科学家在有选择的采用环境数据并改变评估标准。

杜少中对此表示，中方提供的数据是准确的。一些报导以此攻击中国有失公允。

杜少中还呼吁媒体发表报导、改善北京在外国运动员中的形像。一些奥运代表队曾表示，为免受北京不良空气的影响，他们只会在有相关比赛时在运动场露面，或是戴上口罩。而这样的做法无疑有损中国苦心经营的此次运动盛会。

杜少中称，我们需要媒体的帮助，希望记者将自己的亲眼所见告诉外国运动员。