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Change of heart
By Chen Jialu (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-28 10:36 Panzhihua, a city in the remote mountainous southern end of southwest China's Sichuan province, is home to Panzhihua Iron and Steel (Group) Co, or "Pangang", the largest steel production base in western China. The steel complex, constructed in a narrow river valley of the headwater of Jinsha River in 1960s, is regarded as the centerpiece of "the Third Front construction" in a mass mobilization campaign initiated by the central government to build a huge self-sufficient industrial base in China's remote inland areas to serve as a new industrial strategic reserve. That was an era when the spirit of man over nature epitomized people's attitudes and actions. From 1964 to 1971, under the slogan, "Prepare for War, Prepare for Famine, for the Sake of the People", some 100,000 construction workers converged on Panzhihua from all over the country in the large-scale campaign of "the war against nature". However, the massive natural resources exploitation, industrial production and extensive growth caused serious air and water pollution for decades and the once pristine region became an environmental nightmare. "We are in debt to the environment, so we should pay it back now," says Fan Zhengwei, president of Panzhihua Iron & Steel (Group) Co. Pangang, the Third Front mega-project which embodied the "Humans Must Conquer Nature" campaign, has since reversed its philosophy to "Harmony between Heaven and Humans", an extensive energy saving and emissions control campaign. Since 2000, Pangang has invested a total of 700 million yuan ($99.85 million) on energy conservation. It also allocated about 1.6 billion yuan for anti-air pollution projects in the 10th Five-Year Program period ( 2000-2005). In 2007, Pangang reported 82,624 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions and 1,187 tons of chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions, respectively a 5 percent and 10 percent year-on-year reduction from the previous year. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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