New Shougang attracts media

(BEIJING, May 11) -- Over 20 reporters from major news organizations of several countries toured Caofeidian, site of Beijing Capital Iron and Steel Group's new steel plant in Hebei Province from Thursday to Friday.

They were informed that the project, a new move by China to protect the environment, is bringing development opportunities to surrounding regions, changing China's economic growth pattern and helping to improve air quality of Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The visit brought reporters from the United States, Japan, Russia, Singapore, Spain and others to the display hall, the site of 5,500-cubic-meter blast furnace and 250,000-ton wharf.

Construction of the new plant began on March,12, 2007. It has a designed production capacity of 8.98 million tons of iron, 9.7 million tons of steel and 9.13 million tons of rolled steel a year for the first phase, to supply high value-added and urgently needed steel for the country's shipbuilding, bridge, boiler, and car-making industries.

In 2008 half of the designed capacity is expected to be realized and in 2010 the plant will be fully put into operation. State-of-the-art technologies have been applied for the production of the plant, especially in the reduction of dust emissions, while most of the solid waste and waste heat, gas and water will be recycled.

The Beijing Capital Iron and Steel Group, known as Shougang, is widely accused of being a major polluter in Beijing. In 2005, it started to relocate some of its facilities to Caofeidian, 220 kilometers east of Beijing

The project lies on the resource-rich eastern part of Hebei Province, which has one billion tons of proven oil reserves, 4.4 billion tons of iron ore and 5 billion coal reserves, and is set to become a massive port and industrial zone.

Shougang aims to cut its output by 4 million tons this year and another 4 million tons in 2008. Beijing's environment agency says with Shougang's relocation Beijingers may inhale 18,000 tons less particulate matter a year, the total emission of about 100 average-sized manufacturing enterprises.