Chinese firms with good environmental records to be exempted from output curbs
Beijing has promised to put an end to its ‘one size fits all’ approach to environmental compliance
Authorities in northern China’s Hebei province, the country’s smoggiest, will exempt environmental “pace setters” from output curbs as part of a new plan aimed at providing more incentives for local firms to cut pollution, local media said on Thursday.
Hebei, which produces about a quarter of China’s steel, has been on the front line of the country’s four-year campaign to reduce pollution, with authorities anxious to prevent its heavy smog from drifting into neighbouring Beijing.
Cities throughout Hebei were part of a punishing winter campaign that forced all companies in major industries like steel to cut production when air quality declined, but firms complained they were being punished whether they had complied with state pollution standards or not.
China has since promised to put an end to a “one size fits all” approach to environmental compliance and aims to devise more nuanced environmental policies that will minimise economic disruption.
In the first phase of Hebei’s new “pace setter” scheme, three to five leading companies from industrial sectors like steel, cement, glassmaking, coking and waste-to-energy will now be given preferential treatment, Yanzhao Metropolis Daily reported.