Nearly 23 tons of firecrackers were set off and destroyed yesterday on empty land in Yantian District, Shenzhen, producing deafening sounds and dense smoke.

Police destroyed the firecrackers in accordance with the municipal government's decade-old ban on firecrackers. It is also part of a citywide police campaign to ensure a safe Spring Festival in Shenzhen.

The firecrackers, piled up in a 15-meter-long and six-meter-wide area, were confiscated from more than 1,000 stores in Shenzhen in a recent police operation.

Several dozen firecracker wholesale markets were closed down during the operation, according to Shi Zhigang, deputy chief of the Shenzhen public security bureau.

"Destruction of the fireworks shows the municipal government's determination in carrying out the ban on firecrackers," said Shi.

Shenzhen started banning the sale and setting off of fireworks in 1993, when many other Chinese cities began doing away with this traditional way of celebrating the Spring Festival.

At present, fireworks are banned throughout the city, except for Window of the World and China Folk Culture Villages. The two theme parks have obtained special approval from the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department.

According to the ban, no firecrackers are to be sold, stored, transported or set off in Shenzhen. Any violation of the ban may lead to a maximum fine of 5,000 yuan (US$625) and a maximum 15 days' police detention.

"We want to emphasize that people are not allowed to set off firecrackers anywhere in the city, including areas outside the Special Economic Zone (SEZ)," said a police spokesman.

Some lawmakers made a proposal to the city's legislature last year trying to lift the ban in some areas of the city, but the proposal failed to get approved.

(Shenzhen Daily January 24, 2006)