New | Thousands protest in Zhejiang city after safety crackdown closes more than 4,500 shoe factories

Angry protests by thousands of shoemakers broke out in a city in coastal Zhejiang province after an extensive crackdown on workplace safety standards forced the closure of more than 4,500 shoe factories.

Local officials ordered extensive safety inspections of factories in Wenling, a city known for its thriving shoe-making industry, after 16 people were killed when a fire broke out at a shoe factory on January 14.

The local government quickly dispatched task forces to inspect more than 6,000 shoe-making factories in the city, many of them medium and small-sized workshops, ordering the closures of more than 4,500 of those incurring violations, including inadequate firefighting equipment, unlicensed business activities, or building code violations.

The factories found to have breached the safety codes will be allowed to reopen only when all workplace safety standards are met and pass inspection.

Wenling officials said most of the closed factories were small ones, which are often a hotbed of fire hazards that threaten workplace safety. They account for roughly 80 per cent of more than 6,000 shoe factories in the city.