About 100 companies involved in the production of iron, steel, aluminium and textile printing will close down their backward production facilities in Hebei province by the end of the year.

Further to the instructions of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 15 heavy industries in Hebei will reduce use of outdated capacity this year. The industries are involved in iron, steel, hard coke, ferroalloy, calcium carbide, electrolytic aluminium, lead melting, cement, plate glass, papermaking, ethyl alcohol, leather smithing, chemical fiber and lead accumulator - which involve high consumption of energy and are highly polluting.

The ministry’s requirements mean that 100 local companies are required to upgrade their production structure. For example, Xingang Steel companies in Wen'an county of Langfang city will close down two blast furnaces, reducing the outdated production by 800,000 tons.

The authorities are researching the best way to formulate policies regarding the differential electricity pricing to motivate more companies to reduce the backward production capacities.