Cities Near Beijing Close Factories to Improve Air for Olympics

Reuters
Tangshan, a city about 90 miles from Beijing, ordered 267 businesses to suspend operations ahead of the Olympic Games.

By JIM YARDLEY

BEIJING — With Beijing struggling to clear polluted skies before the Olympics in August, the nearby industrial port of Tianjin has ordered 40 factories to suspend some operations for two months as part of a broader effort to improve air quality during the Games, state news media reported.

The planned shutdowns in Tianjin, about 70 miles east of Beijing, are one piece of a regional plan that is expected to result in temporary factory closings or slowdowns across a large swath of northern China during the Games. Few details are known about which factories might close or when, so the announcement in Tianjin offers a window into one piece of the plan.

Beijing’s air quality remains a major concern for the Games as the city continues to struggle with pollution, despite a $20 billion government cleanup campaign. Beijing is also a victim of its neighborhood: pollution blows in from surrounding regions that are dotted with coal mines, coal-fired power plants, steel mills, cement factories and other clusters of heavy industry.

The Olympics’ opening ceremony is Aug. 8, and meteorologists have said officials must begin closing factories a few weeks beforehand to make a difference.

The shutdowns in Tianjin will be from July 25 to Sept. 30, concluding after the end of the Paralympics in Beijing, according to Xinhua, the state-run news agency. Tianjin is a host city for the Olympic soccer competition, and work at 26 construction sites near the city’s Olympic stadium will be suspended.

In addition, the city of Tangshan, one of China’s busiest steel centers, about 90 miles from Beijing, is ordering 267 businesses to suspend operations by Tuesday, according to Reuters. Of those, 66 small steel mills, coking operations, cement factories and small power generators will be closed, Reuters reported. The companies will be able to reopen at an unspecified date after undergoing an environmental review.

In recent days, rainfall in Beijing has been unusually high. When it has not rained, the skies have been clotted with haze. The city will begin alternate-day driving restrictions on July 20 to ease traffic and reduce pollution. By then, experts say, announcements of more temporary factory shutdowns are expected elsewhere in the region.

Sunday also brought good news: the first truly blue skies in Beijing in many days.