The Chinese capital has shown more teeth in its treatment of polluters by shutting down 25 local enterprises.

Another 138 enterprises have also been put on file for further investigation, said the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection.

The bureau, teaming up with another five government organs such as the Bureau of Industry and Commerce, launched a citywide campaign in April to crack down on polluters.

The campaign will run through November, says a document made public on Wednesday by the environmental protection bureau.

By mid-August, a total of 10,314 enterprises had been checked, 163 of those did not meet environmental protection standards.

Besides the 25 that will be shut down, others were given a limited period of time to abide by environmental rules.

At the same time, environmental protection authorities in Fangshan District in southwestern Beijing closed 111 small coal pits and plan to suspend operation of more than half of the district's lime-burning kilns by the end of this year.

Another key focus of the ongoing campaign is medical waste.

The environmental protection and health bureaux of Chaoyang District have jointly investigated 126 hospitals, 27 of which collected, stored or treated medical waste illegally, says the document.

Cheng Xia, head of the bureau's Pollution Control Division, said a hotline has been set up at 12369 for people to report polluters.

Meanwhile, other companies are making some progress.

Some 28 heavy polluters, made public in June, have announced plans to invest heavily in emission reduction projects.

Sulphur dioxide

The 28 enterprises produce 78,000 tons of sulphur dioxide every year, or 68 per cent of the city's overall industrial emissions. They have announced plans to invest 1.78 billion yuan (US$215 million) in emission-reduction projects, said Chen.

If all the projects can be carried out smoothly, the amount of sulphur dioxide in the city's air may decrease by one-third by the end of next year, said Cheng.

Sulphur dioxide harms people's respiratory systems and are a cause of acid rain.

Cheng said polluters who fail to implement emission-reduction projects will be blacklisted, new construction projects will not be approved and the companies will not be allowed to go public within three years.

The 28 air polluters, including five sub-companies under the steel giant Shougang Group, are mainly involved in electricity, petrochemicals and steel-smelting.

(China Daily August 27, 2004)