China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced Thursday that it had given the go-ahead for the Jingtang Iron and Steel Project.

 

Beijing steel giant Shougang will pack up and move to neighboring Hebei Province, in the process creating a new joint venture with Hebei-based Tangshan Iron and Steel Group, named Shougang Jingtang Iron and Steel Corp.

 

In so doing, Shougang would eliminate a production capacity of eight million tons of iron and steel from its Beijing base, while 7.3 million tons would similarly cease in Hebei Province.

 

"The approval signals the complete start-up of Shougang Jingtang Iron and Steel Project," revealed NDRC officials, underlining the important 67.7 billion yuan invested in the project.

 

If estimates are right, the project would produce 8.98 million tons of pig iron, 9.7 million tons of steel and 9.13 million tons of rolled steel a year, sources said.

 

Shougang's relocation will come as a breath of fresh air to Beijing since it was the city's long-standing worst polluter, its chimneys infamous for belching out thick black clouds of smoke.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2007)