Kunming to release environment report after protests over petrochemical plant

The government of the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming will publish an environmental impact assessment for a refinery which has been subject to mass protests, state media said on Monday, as it hopes to head off further unrest ahead of a trade fair.

An increasingly affluent urban population has begun to object to China’s policy of growth at all costs, which has fuelled the economy for three decades, with the environment emerging as a focus of concern and protests.

There have already been two large protests in Kunming against the production of paraxylene (PX), a chemical used in making fabrics and plastic bottles, at the planned plant.

Organisers have taken to the internet to call for the next protest on June 6, the same date for the first China-South Asia Expo, which senior Chinese leaders are expected to attend.

Kunming mayor Li Wenrong said the government will listen to comments and communicate with residents about their concerns over the project and repeated a pledge to cancel it if people do not want it, the official People’s Daily said.

“We will soon, in accordance with procedure, release the environmental impact assessment report to the public,” the paper quoted Li as saying. “There is nothing which needs to be covered up.”

The government last week issued an order banning any protests during the period of the trade fair, due to run from June 6-10.