Hot demand for electricity forces factories to close

HEFEI - A total of 506 factories and enterprises in eight cities of East China's Anhui province had their electricity cut off on Sunday.

The electricity suspension, which will last for a month, is due to the enterprises' failure to meet the energy conservation and emission reduction goal set out by the provincial government.

The eight cities are Huaibei, Lu'an, Fuyang, Anqing, Chaohu, Chizhou, Tongling and Huangshan. Most factories are in industries that require high-energy consumption such as metallurgical, coal and chemical industries. Some of the factories even increased their energy use during the past six months.