China plans to close five of its production lines producing hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) refrigeration, or 16% of global production by 2015.

The announcement was made at a commemorative event the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. This event brought together representatives of the Chinese government, the United Nations Programming Ozone Secretariat for the Environment (UNEP) and the World Bank.

The closure of these production lines is equivalent to eliminating 58,864 tonnes of HCFC production or 16% of total production. China looks ready to drop all production units in 2030.

China is currently the largest producer, user and exporter of HCFCs in the world. In 2010, the controlled HCFC production was 445 000 tonnes, or 78.5% of the total world production.
Zhai Qing, Chinese Vice Minister of Environmental Protection said that “The management and disposal of HCFCs in the production sectors are the most effective way to achieve the goal. Thanks to the management of quotas, China’s HCFC production in 2013 was reduced by 8.38% compared to the base year (average 2009-2010) and reduced consumption of 9.14% compared the reference year. This is an important step in the effort to eliminate China’s HCFC. ”

Since April 2013, the Chinese government has worked with the World Bank and businesses. This collaboration is focused on the implementation of the first stage of the plan to eliminate the HCFC production sector in China. This project is part of the strategy to eliminate the production area of the country depleting substances in the ozone layer in 2030. The Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol (MLF) supports the implementation of this step by paying a grant of 95 million dollars in return for the reduction in the annual production of HCFCs.

Bert Hofman, World Bank Director for China announced “China is a key player in the HCFC phase-out project for the Montreal Protocol.” The decline in production is an important step to meet the schedule of China’s Protocol.

The first step is the effort on the closure of Chinese production units to take advantage of the elimination of HFC-23. The five companies involved in the project are Yingpeng Chemical Co, ZHEJIANG DONGYANG Chemical Co, JIANGSU BLUE STAR GREEN TECHNOLOGY Co., HANGZHOU FIRST CHEMICAL Co and YANTAI Zhongrui Chemical Co.