Beijing Company Closings: All a Sham?

China’s environmental issues have magnified since the start of the Olympics. As part of their Olympic pollution clean-up, which became in 2001, the city decide to shut down hundreds of plants that were contributing highly to pollution problems. Over 200 steel, chemical, automobile, and electronics companies were closed.

Kind of.

At least, that’s what they said.

However, reports from the Washington Post and Environmental Leader are saying that it’s all a sham – the companies didn’t close. They just relocated.

Beijing’s two top polluters, Shougang Group’s Capital Steel and Steel Co. and the Beijing Coking-Chemical Plant didn’t close down as reported, but rather moved to locations in Tangshan, which is about 125 miles east of Beijing.

That’s not to say that Beijing and China as a whole haven’t really been trying to clean up their air and water…but are they promoting themselves to be greener than they actually are? Probably. Hiding companies in another city isn’t making the world a greener place.

And having 14-year-old gymnasts isn’t fair. But hey, that’s a fight for another day, another blog.

Weigh in with your thoughts – are China’s clean-up efforts a sham or are they really trying? Leave a comment!