Shougang Group, a leading heavyweight steelmaker in China, announced Thursday it had halted all its steel-making operations in Beijing amid efforts to cut air pollution in the capital.

A shutdown ceremony was held Thursday morning in Shougang's Shijingshan site in western Beijing, marking the end of the company's plant that was founded almost a century ago and had an annual production capacity of 8million tonnes.

That also means Shougang had reduced air pollutants it had discharged into the capital's sky from the maximum of 9,000 tonnes a year to zero now.

"We fulfill our solemn commitment to the nation and the people," Zhu Jimin, board chairman of Shougang, told the ceremony.

The company has built a 21-square-kilometer new plant in Caofeidian, an islet 220 kilometers east of Beijing in Bohai Bay, to replace Shougang's old facilities.

China has encouraged steelmakers to build factories in coastal areas to take advantage of ports to minimize the purchasing cost of iron ores.

Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang attended Thursday's shutdown ceremony, saying the relocation was significant as it is the first steelmaker to have moved from a big city to a coastal area.

"The relocation has strategic significance in promoting the restructure of the iron and steel industry, and transformation of urban functions," he said.

"It is also an important move for China to accelerate the transformation of economic development mode," he said.

Better Air Quality

Founded in 1919, Shougang once hit a record of 10 million tonnes of annual output, with more than 200,000 workers at the peak.

It was located in Shijingshan District, 17 kilometers away from Tian'anmen, central Beijing. With the city's rapid urbanization over the past decades, the site once on the outskirts became part of the urban areas.

But because of the existence of Shougang, Shijingshan had long been known as an unsuitable place for living due to serious air pollution.

"Dust could be seen almost everywhere in the past," said Lu Zengzhi, a retired Shougang worker.