China, facing the risk of embarrassment if it misses a looming environmental deadline, has ordered thousands of companies to close high-polluting plants as its leadership vies to retool economic growth.Beijing has pledged to slash China's energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 per cent between 2006 and 2010, as the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter seeks to reduce pollution and clean up its environment.
Official data suggest China is likely to miss the year-end deadline -- potentially causing red faces for top leaders who have trumpeted efforts to curb emissions growth and develop renewable energy.
"It is a gesture to show that the country is trying its best to achieve the target," Andy Xie, an independent economist based in Shanghai, told AFP.
"The leaders need to save face."
Beijing this month ordered 2087 firms producing steel, coal, cement, aluminium, glass and other materials to close their old and obsolete plants by the end of September -- or risk having bank loans frozen and power cut off.
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