Source: CCTV.com

04-28-2008 09:55

Special Report:   2008 Beijing Olympic Games

The first part of our Olympic series took an upclose look at how Beijing has budgeted for this mega sporting event. In Part Three, we examine how exactly organizers managed to stump up the billions of yuan needed for the Summer Games.

Seven years after successfully clinching the coveted Olympic Games, China's efforts to improve the environment are obvious. The sky has gotten bluer, the water has gotten cleaner.

Founded in 1919, China's Shougang Group, or Capital Steel is one of Beijing's industrial pride. The 10 billion US dollar steel maker has spearheaded numerous technology breakthroughs in China's iron and steel industry.

But it has also been one of the city's worst pollution offenders, forcing city officials to ask for its departure, ahead of the Olympic Games.

Liu Qi, BOCOG Chairman & Beijing Party Secretary said "It was a very difficult, but crucially important decision for the city. Shougang's relocation will greatly impact Beijing's economy, because it's such a huge economic entity."

What made the city bite the bullet, was Shougang's high pollution output. Located in the west of the city, the steel maker alone, burnt 12 percent of the city's coal consumption. Thick clouds of smoke use to belch out from its huge chimneys. And hundreds of trucks transporting product wastes daily along the city's major roads were also a major environmental hazard.

Now,seventy percent of the steelmaker's production has moved out of Beijing, to neighboring Hebei province. The country's environmental watchdog says the relocation of the Capital Steel shows Beijing's commitment to environmental protection, no matter the cost.

Jia Feng, Education Department Director of Ministry of Environmental Protection said "One of the biggest programs is the Capital Steel. They moved out of Beijing. It has become one of the economic structure reform in Beijing and in China. "

The relocation came at a steep price for the city's municipal government. Beijing paid an estimated 50 billion yuan as compensation, and now loses billions of yuan in tax revenues annually.

As for Shougang Group, or Capital Steel, it has used the relocation as an opportunity, to complete its long-planned strategy to improve the company's technology and emission standards.

Zhu Jimin, President of Shougang Group said "Shougang has never stopped investing in environmental protection. But the Olympics has offered us the rare opportunity to expand in a new location and thoroughly up-grade our production lines in the new plant."

Shougang Group was among over 200 high-polluting and energy intensive factories that have been moved out of town, as part of Beijing's efforts to improve its air quality before the Olympics. The results are apparent. According to the Beijing Olympic organizer, annual number of blue sky days has increased from 177 in 2000, to 246 last year.