AgroPages-China’s 28 cities may shut down, restrict industrial production for National Day Parade-Agricultural news

A Chinese manufacturer recently issued an internal notice stating that manufacturers north of the Yellow River may be required to shut down or restrict their industrial production, to control air pollution and ensure blue skies for the National Day Parade.

Customers wishing to receive delivery of goods need to stock up beforehand, it added.

One company in Beijing also released a notice stating that it received an instruction from its managing authority to prohibit trucks traveling on Beijing’s 6th Ring Road from 20th August to 10th October. A curfew will begin from 20th August and a lockout will begin from 1st September.

No official instructions have been released, but some factories have issued notices to close or restrict their production, to protect the environment and prepare for the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.

It is now less than two months before 1st October, which is China’s National Day. What concerns the chemical industry is the need to ensure that blue skies will be present for the parade, and if factories will be forced to shut down or restrict their production.

Although the Chinese Ministry of Environment and Ecology has not yet released any instructions, during the celebration of China’s victory in World War Two in Beijing in 2015, the city and six surrounding provinces closed or restricted industrial production to ensure clear skies in Beijing.

During that period, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei took action to restrict summer-related emissions of NOx and volatile organic compounds, with the aim of controlling motor vehicle emissions and volatile industrial organic emissions.

According to the head of a factory in Hebei Province, due to National Day, several cement factories near Beijing and Hebei Province are planning to close and conduct maintenance during the National Day Parade. The head of the factory added that compared to 2015, this year’s parade will be more magnificent, but as it will happen in autumn, when air pollution is usually quite serious, factories may need to close or restrict their industrial production in advance.