The Shougang Group, one of China's leading steel producers, has shut down its No.1 steel factory at its Beijing production base, a move to help clear the skies above the Chinese capital while the company undergoes industrial restructuring.

The closure of the last furnace at the No. 1 factory on Thursday was the latest shutdown at Shougang's Beijing base, part of a plan to both reduce air pollution and upgrade production technology by building new factories outside Beijing, Monday's Economic Information Daily reported.

The No. 1 steel factory has an annual production capacity of two million tons. Its closure will reduce Shougang's annual capacity from eight million tons to six million tons.

The other two furnaces at the No. 1 steel factory were shut down last year, together with the polluting blooming mill, furnaces at the special steel factory and other steel-making facilities.

Shougang plans to build a new production base in the Qian'an area in north China's Hebei Province. Designed to produce two million tons of steel annually, it is expected to begin operating in 2004.

Construction of a slab factory with an annual capacity of 800,000 tons is underway in Qinhuangdao, a port city in Hebei Province.

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2003)