Beijing to close 300 companies this year in battle on pollution

Vehicles go through a main thoroughfare while the PM2.5 Air Quality Index (AQI) reaches more than 500 in Beijing city, China, on Jan 15, 2015. -- PHOTO: EPA
Vehicles go through a main thoroughfare while the PM2.5 Air Quality Index (AQI) reaches more than 500 in Beijing city, China, on Jan 15, 2015. -- PHOTO: EPA

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing plans to shut 300 companies this year to help reduce choking air pollution in the Chinese capital, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

Beijing is "determined to migrate the capital's non-core functions," said Xinhua, citing the city's mayor, Wang Anshun. The city is actively adopting a coordinated development strategy laid out for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, it added.

Beijing closed 392 manufacturing and polluting firms last year, Xinhua said.

Beijing has taken several steps to fight air pollution in recent years. In 2013, the city government limited the number of new vehicles on the roads and ordered the closure or upgrade of the facilities at 1,200 companies.

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