Beijing to shut down 300 polluting factories

A total of 300 polluting factories in Beijing will be shut down in 2014 to improve the city's air, said the municipal government.

According to a newly released document detailing key tasks based on Beijing Clean Air Action Plan (2013-1017), energy and pollution intensive projects such as steel and cement are not to be approved in principle. Labor intensive manufacturing is also not an option for city development.

A list of the industrial projects that to be halted or suspended will be published by the end of April.

A clean production audit will be carried out in over 200 factories and at least 50 clean production projects will be promoted citywide.

The local government will also issue a directory catalog in August to phase out some industries, manufacturing techniques and equipment that are not in line with Beijing's function as the capital.

Academies of social sciences based in Shanghai and Beijing jointly issued a development report on world cities on Wednesday. Beijing ranked 39 among 40 cities in terms of living environment.

Beijing aims to cut PM2.5 (airborne particles measuring less than 2.5 microns) by five percent year-on-year to 85 mg per cubic meter in 2014.