China meets five-year goal to phase out outdated industrial capacity

China has reached its target of phasing out outdated industrial capacity set in the 11th Five-Year Plan through a series of strong measures during the past five years, the National Development and Reform Commission announced on March 10.
It is estimated that during this period, the country shut down small thermal power units with a combined capacity of 72 million kilowatts and eliminated over 121.7 million tons of outdated iron production capacity, nearly 69.7 million tons of outdated steel production capacity, and 330 million tons of outdated cement production capacity.
In addition, considerable progress has been made in closing down heavily-polluting enterprises in the fields of paper making, chemical engineering, textile, printing and dyeing, alcohol, monosodium glutamate and citric acid.
The elimination of outdated industrial capacity has played an important role in helping China transform its development pattern, adjust its economic structure, improve the quality and efficiency of economic growth and meet the emissions-reduction target for the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010).
The strong measures for phasing out outdated capacity can be divided into four main categories. First is breaking down large tasks into small ones and strengthening the reward and penalty system. The second is to improving relevant technical standards. The third is to give full play to market forces so as to increase the business costs of companies with outdated capacity. The fourth is to make proper arrangements for laid-off workers from companies with outdated capacity through various channels and measures as well as strict implementation of related policies so as to ensure social stability.
By People's Daily Online
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