Proposed Xiamen PX Project Possibly Has a New Site     

On May 1st when the nation was enjoying the holiday, policemen of Songxia Town Police Station in Changle City of Fujian province were busy tearing down the fly sheets of "opposing the PX (para-xylene) project" stuck on electric poles and building walls.
   The proposed 800 000 t/a PX project has become a focus of concern ever since the Dragon Aromatics (Xiamen) Company Ltd. started construction a PX project in Haicang, Fujian province in 2006 (CCR2006 No.34) and then the construction was forced to cease. (CCR2007 No.16)
   On May 2nd this year The Economic Observer published a piece of news about the relocation of the suspended PX project in Xiamen to Changle. Almost at the same time the government of Changle posted a notice at its website, stating that "there is no such a thing that the proposed Xiamen PX project would have a new constructing site - Changle". The notice also said that the plan for the construction of large aromatic units was already terminated and other specific programs were subject to evaluation and assessment.
   An official from Fuzhou Development and Reform Commission says that he really believes that the plan for the construction of aromatic units has been terminated. PX projects are generally misunderstood as projects that will cause serious pollution. Nevertheless, not all aromatic projects are equal to PX projects.
   An official of Changle who refuses to disclose his name says that the project can promote the GDP growth in the city, but pollution it brings will become the most prominent problem.
   An official of Fujian provincial government said that the province has many ports and remarkable advantages of making use of import resources to construct petrochemical bases here. Fujian is one of the provinces with the most advantageous geographical conditions for developing the near port petrochemical industry.
   Changle is a coastal city of the near port industry in the province. It started to construct chemical factories and iron-steel works in 2003 to develop local economy. No one expected that so many problems would arise afterwards.
   An official of Changle commented that problems in the development should be solved through development, employment should be increased through the development of enterprises and the society should be rewarded through the operations of enterprises. All problems will naturally have solutions at that time. Changle is one of the two cities in the province with the best atmospheric quality. In term of economy, it holds the sixth place in the top 100 cities of the province. It is a city full of love and warmth.