On August 14, thousands of Dalian people gathered at Dalian People’s Square in front of Dalian municipal government to protest the PX project in Dalian, asked to the PX project move out of Dalian. Subsequently, Dalian government committed to relocate the plant in the afternoon.
According to Reuters, Dalian PX project is still running as normal on August 15, although the plant was ordered to close on Sunday.
“There is no notice that the plant should change its normal operation,” from a source which is familiar with the situation.
An environmental department official, taking close attention to the PX project in Dalian, said that the rapid response on the PX project of Dalian government is far beyond his imagination, which spends less than five days from holding an emergency meeting on August 9 to making a final decision.
It is known that the PX project is the largest PX project in China, whose total investment is 9.5 billion yuan and annual production is 700,000 tons. The annual output value is about 26 billion yuan. It can pay 2 billion yuan tax every year.
The above-mentioned environment protection official said, “as such a large project, how to move, when to move, and where to be moved are the questions. Who should pay for the relocation costs? These issues deserve to pay attentions to.”
Translated and edited by Ma Xin
Ma Xin is an editor of M4.cn and can be reached at maxin@m4.com.cn