Shougang Group a leading heavyweight steelmaker in China announced it had halted all its steel making operations in Beijing amid efforts to cut air pollution in the capital.

A shutdown ceremony was held on January 13th 2011 in Shougang's Shijingshan site in western Beijing, marking the end of the company's plant that was founded almost a century ago and had an annual production capacity of 8 million tonnes.

(Workers watch a furnace operate for the last time at Shougang Group's steel plant in Shijingshan district, in the western suburbs of Beijing on Dec 19th 2010. The country's leading steelmaker halts operations in Beijing amid efforts to cut the capital's air pollution. It has built a 21 square kilometer new plant in Caofeidian, an islet 220 kilometers east of Beijing in Bohai Bay, to replace Shougang's old facilities.)

That also means Shougang had reduced air pollutants it had discharged into the capital's sky from the maximum of 9,000 tonnes a year to zero now.

Mr Zhu Jimin board chairman of Shougang told the ceremony that "We fulfill our solemn commitment to the nation and the people.”

The company has built a 21 square kilometer new plant in Caofeidian, an islet 220 kilometers east of Beijing in Bohai Bay to replace Shougang's old facilities.

China has encouraged steelmakers to build factories in coastal areas to take advantage of ports to minimize the purchasing cost of iron ores.

(Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang (C) visits a steel factory of China's heavyweight steel maker Shougang Group in Shijingshan, Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 13, 2011, during a shutdown ceremony which is held for marking the close down of the company's Beijing based 8 million-tonne steel production capacity to improve the capital's environment.)

Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang attended Thursday's shutdown ceremony, saying the relocation was significant as it is the first steelmaker to have moved from a big city to a coastal area. He said that "The relocation has strategic significance in promoting the restructure of the iron and steel industry, and transformation of urban functions.” He added that "It is also an important move for China to accelerate the transformation of economic development mode.”

Founded in 1919, Shougang once hit a record of 10 million tonnes of annual output, with more than 200,000 workers at the peak. It was located in Shijingshan District, 17 kilometers away from Tian'anmen, central Beijing. With the city's rapid urbanization over the past decades, the site once on the outskirts became part of the urban areas.

But because of the existence of Shougang, Shijingshan had long been known as an unsuitable place for living due to serious air pollution.

After getting approval by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2005, Shougang initiated its relocation program, the largest industrial relocation in China since the 1960s.

Mr Li Yan chief of Shougang's production department in charge of the halting program said that Beijing municipal government formed a unit to oversee the shutdown. It took more than two years to bring operations completely to a halt.

The production line at the Shijingshan plant permanently ceased to function at 1:36 p.m. on December 21, 2010 after the last roll of steel wires was churned out, signalling the end of air pollution that Shougang had brought to Beijing, Li said.

Mr Tang Danping with Shougang's environment protection department said that "Shougang has been trying hard to cut pollution from steelmaking and protect environment since 2005. In this regard, we have invested CNY 220 million (USD 33.3 million) in 36 projects.”

(The shutdown plant zone of Shougang Group, a heavyweight steel maker in China, in Shijingshan District of Beijing)

Authorities in Beijing are now working to transform Shijingshan into a Central Recreation District. Local resident Zhang Yuguang said that "Few people were willing to live in Shijingshan several years ago. But now, the relocation of Shougang and improvement of environment are turning the district into a comfortable place to live.” He added that "The housing prices have doubled in two years.”

As the old Shougang workshops are being developed into a base of culture and creative industries, showcasing topics such as a museum of steelmaking history, alongside a center of modern logistics, new Shougang plant infrastructure have emerged at Caofeidian, which falls under jurisdiction of Tangshan City, Hebei Province.

Mr Zhu Jimin Shougang's board chairman said that "The relocation does not mean that we simply move pollution out of Beijing, but that we are building a new, hi-tech plant with lower resources consumption, less pollution and good economic returns.”