Hundreds march in protest against plan for petrochemical plant in eastern China

People in eastern China took to the streets to protest against the proposed construction of a petrochemical plant in the latest example of rising discontent over pollution.

Photos and videos on weibo showed several hundred demonstrators marching outside the government headquarters of Xicheng district government in Longkou, a coastal city in Shandong province on Tuesday morning.

Protesters shouted slogans and held placards reading: “Protecting the environment is everyone’s responsibility”.

The protest came less than one week after local authorities announced they were seeking public opinions over the plan to build the Yulong Petrochemical Base.

A local resident, who wanted to be identified only by her surname Chen, said the protesters were driven by environmental concerns and that air quality in the area was “quite bad”.

“In the past the goal [of building such plants] was to earn money, but how much money can buy us good health?” she asked.

In a lengthy post, a blogger from Longkou wrote: “Why do we have to build a petrochemical plant in Xicheng district? Is it because most of the government officials live in the east side of the city?”