Beijing Shougang steel company, one of the city's worst polluters, will continue to operate during the 2008 Olympic Games -- but at a minimum level, says the company's chairman.

Executives at Shougang, otherwise known as Beijing Capital Iron and Steel Group, had previously indicated the company might suspend production during the Olympics, but chairman Zhu Jimin says production will continue.

Shougang would reduce production from eight million to four million tons this year and maintain minimum operations during the Games, said Zhu, during the 10th National People's Congress.

The company had already started to reduce production with the closure of a two-million-ton production facility and a furnace with a capacity of 700,000 tons, said Zhu.

The company would maintain a capacity of four million tons during the Beijing Olympics, when its operations would be strictly carried out in line with government instructions, Zhu said.

Shougang would help to ensure the success of the Olympics, said Zhu.

In March 2005, Zhu was reported as saying, "We'll take substantial measures, including production slowdown and suspension, to reduce pollution as we are able to move all the polluting plants by the time the Olympics open."

His statement was repeated in June 2005 by Xue Wanqing, the group's director of environment protection.

Widely accused of being a major air polluter in Beijing, the group started to relocate production in 2005 to Caofeidian, an island between Tanggu New Port and Qinhuangdao Port, 225 km southeast of Beijing and 85 km south of Tangshan in Hebei.

According to a plan approved in 2005 by the State Council, China's cabinet, the steel company is expected to move all its Beijing-based production facilities to Caofeidian by 2010.

Construction of a new plant in Caofeidian will start on Monday and begin operations by the end of next year with an annual capacity of 9.75 million tons.

Source: Xinhua