"Xiamen has long been well known for its beautiful scenery and as one of the most livable cities in China. I don't want to see it become an industrial zone or a large chemical plant set up here," said a female logistics company clerk surnamed Lin, 26.
The 10.8-billion-yuan (US$1.4 billion) project by Tenglong Aromatic PX (Xiamen) Co. Ltd. is expected to produce 800,000 tons of paraxylene and generate revenues of 80 billion yuan (US$10.77 billion) a year.
Paraxylene is a highly polluting, cancer-causing petrochemical used to make purified terephthalic acid, a raw material for producing polyester film, packaging resin and fabrics. Health experts say it can cause fetus abnormalities.
"We encourage public participation in the environmental assessment of the project with a view to ensuring a harmonious and sustainable development for the southern area of Haicang District in the future," said Xie Haisheng, director of the office of Xiamen's environmental assessment leading group for overall urban planning.
"Public participation is an important step in the environmental assessment of urban planning and also an important way to achieve objectivity and fairness in this regard," he said.
