就業乃是攔路虎 北京如何治理空氣污染?

When people in Beijing put on their pollution masks, it makes international headlines. But the effort to clean up the air in northern China depends on steel-producing cities such as Chengde, whose 3m people are more worried about jobs than smog.

北京人戴上口罩抵禦空氣污染成了國際頭條新聞。但治理中國北方空氣的努力，要依靠承德這樣的鍊鋼城市。而承德300萬市民對就業的擔心，超出他們對煙霧的擔心。

The authorities have become so concerned at the state of the air in the Chinese capital that they want the industrial cities of Hebei province that encircle Beijing to cut coal use and steel and cement capacity to ease the problem.

官方對中國首都空氣狀況如此擔憂，以至於他們要求環繞北京的多個河北省工業城市減少使用煤炭，並削減鋼鐵和水泥產能，以求緩解空氣污染問題。

But for Chengde and other cities, where incomes are lower and steel mills with their belching smokestacks are valued employers, that translates into fewer jobs. The issue of keeping jobs in cities without other industries makes the whole shift much more complicated and politically dangerous for Beijing.

但對承德這樣的城市來說，這就意味着就業崗位將會減少。這些城市的收入水平較低，排出濃煙的鍊鋼廠被視爲可貴的僱主。在這些沒有其他產業的城市，保住就業的問題使得整個經濟轉型課題對北京來說要複雜得多，在政治上也相當危險。

“Hebei has legitimate concerns that they are less developed and they are heavily reliant on heavy industry,” says Li Yan, head of Greenpeace’s climate and energy campaign for China. “But the public outcry and attention, especially international attention, to China’s ‘airpocalypse’ really triggered concerns at the top level and the centre decided it was time to make a move.”

“河北有一些正當的關切，他們不那麼發達，而且嚴重依賴重工業，”綠色和平(Greenpeace)在中國的氣候與能源項目經理李雁表示，“但是公衆對‘末日空氣’的強烈不滿和關注，尤其是國際方面的關注，真的引發了高層的關切，於是中央決定採取行動。”

Yesterday, the Beijing city government unveiled a new round of measures, from traffic restrictions to keeping children out of school, for use on heavily polluted days. But blue skies in the wealthy capital are dependent on co-operation from the industrial cities that surround it.

昨日北京市政府出臺新一輪措施，準備在空氣污染嚴重的日子實行車輛限行和學校停課等對策。但是，如果富有的中國首都要看到藍天，還是要靠其周圍的工業城市配合。

Chengde is one such place. The steel mill makes up its own mini-city, complete with the Chengde Steel hospital, in a western suburb of a town better known for the summer palaces of the Manchu emperors.

承德就是這樣一個城市。這裏的鍊鋼廠構成了一個自成一體的小城，還包括承德鋼鐵集團有限公司總醫院。承德本身以滿清皇帝的避暑宮殿而聞名，鋼廠的小城位於該市西郊。

It is home to most of the unsightly industry and power plants that were banished from Beijing before the 2008 Olympic Games. The province’s pledge to cut coal usage and dismantle some polluting steel and cement plants comes at a cost: the central government will transfer Rmb2bn ($330m) to Hebei as part of the deal, Chinese media reported. But state-owned steel mills such as Chengde Steel are too important to Hebei’s cities to be simply shut down.

這裏有一些最不雅觀的工廠和發電廠，北京市在舉行2008年奧運會之前關停了這些工業設施。河北省減少使用煤炭和關停一部分污染嚴重鋼廠及水泥廠的承諾是有價碼的：據中國媒體報道，作爲協議的一部分，中央政府將向河北省轉移支付20億元人民幣（合3.3億美元）。但對河北的城市來說，承德鋼鐵集團這樣的國有鋼廠實在太過重要，不可能對它們說關就關。

The hinterland accounts for at least one-quarter of Beijing’s pollution, estimates Fang Li, vice-director of the municipal environmental bureau.

北京環境保護局副局長方力估計，北京市至少四分之一的污染來自外地。

Even on a clear day, pollution from Chengde Steel is so thick it can be seen on satellite images of the city. Grey smog submerges the dusty villages on the main road to the mill.

即便是在晴朗的日子裏，承德鋼鐵排放的污染也如此濃烈，以至於從該市的衛星照片也可看到。灰濛濛的煙霧遮蓋了通往鋼廠的主要公路兩旁塵土飛揚的村子。

Chengde Steel’s emissions are so bad that it was one of three polluting plants showcased on state television the day China announced its new plan for reducing air pollution in three big population centres. The company and the city government did not respond to requests for interviews.

承德鋼鐵的排放如此嚴重，以至於在中國公佈新計劃治理三大人口中心空氣污染的當天，官方電視臺將其列爲三個工業污染源實例之一。該公司和承德市政府沒有迴應記者的採訪請求。

“We ordinary people, we watch the news. China Central TV discusses pollution endlessly. It’s serious but at the local level nobody does anything about it,” says Zhang, a villager whose tidy home is frequently covered with dust from Chengde Steel’s plants. Like most residents interviewed by Financial Times, he was reluctant to give his full name.

“我們老百姓，我們看新聞。中央電視臺不停地談論污染問題。問題很嚴重，但在地方上，沒有人拿出任何行動，”一名姓張的村民表示。他的家裏很整潔，但經常被承德鋼鐵的鋼廠飄來的灰塵覆蓋。與英國《金融時報》走訪的其他居民一樣，他不願透露自己的全名。

Cleaning up pollution at state-owned Chengde Steel is unlikely to be much of a priority for anyone. The mill commands the only large vanadium mine in northern China and so has strategic value as a producer of the metal used to make hard, rust-resistant steel for tools and nuclear plants. It is also the biggest employer around, accounting for one in eight of all state employees in Chengde. It employs about 16,000 people and another 7,000 or so worked there until they retired.

治理國有的承德鋼鐵的污染，似乎不太可能受到任何人的太大重視。該廠擁有中國北方唯一的大型釩礦，因而作爲這種金屬的生產企業而具有戰略價值。釩用於生產硬度大、而且抗鏽的鋼材，核電廠以及工具製造會用到這類鋼材。承德鋼鐵還是當地最大的僱主，佔承德市全部國有單位僱員的八分之一。該集團約有1.6萬名員工，另外還有7000來名退休職工。

“If this steel mill didn’t exist we wouldn’t even have anywhere to go to eat. Everything revolves around this steel factory; our children work here,” said Mrs Li, who moved to Chengde 40 years ago to work at the plant.

“如果這家鋼廠不存在，我們就找不到吃飯的地方。一切都圍繞着這家鋼廠；我們的孩子在那裏工作，”40年前遷居承德、到該廠工作的李太太表示。

It remains to be seen whether Beijing’s new determination in the fight against pollution will succeed where previous campaigns against overcapacity in the steel sector have failed. Chengde Steel has already survived a campaign to shut hundreds of smaller and older mills and create a handful of national champions.

在以往解決鋼鐵行業產能過剩的努力不了了之的地方，中國中央政府治理污染的新決心能否取得成功？這一點還有待觀察。在此前一輪關閉數百家規模較小、設備較陳舊的鋼廠、同時創建少量國家級冠軍企業的重組努力中，承德鋼鐵得以倖存。

Hebei province, which collects taxes from Chengde Steel, gathered its big state-owned mills into one conglomerate but made no move to shut any of them.

從承德鋼鐵獲得稅收收入的河北省，將該省大型國有鋼廠合併爲一家企業集團，但沒有采取任何行動關閉其中任何一家鋼廠。

Average urban salaries in Chengde are only Rmb34,000 a year ($5,400), compared with Rmb56,000 a year in Beijing, so the province can ill-afford any move that threatens jobs. In Beijing, citizens check air pollution levels daily and wear masks on smoggy days. In Chengde, there was talk of moving the housing that stood nearest to the mill, but a compensation plan was never agreed and residents continue to live next to the plant.

承德市民的平均年薪只有3.4萬元人民幣（合5400美元），遠低於北京市的5.6萬元人民幣，因此河北省無力承受任何危及就業的舉措。在北京，市民們天天檢查污染水平，並在有霧霾的日子戴上口罩。在承德，曾有過關於搬遷鋼廠附近居民的討論，但各方在補償方案上談不攏，因此仍有居民住在鋼廠旁邊。

In Gonghou village, about a mile from the mill’s main gate, the corn fields have gradually given way to divisions of Chengde Steel and an automotive plant.

在距鋼廠大門大約1英里的宮後村，玉米地逐漸被承德鋼鐵的部門和一家汽車廠佔據。

Villagers whose families had farmed here since at least the Qing dynasty now work as dispatch labourers at the steel mill. “You have to take care of the basic needs before you can tackle things like pollution,” says one noodle shop owner, wiping a thin film of grime off his tables before the lunch crowd arrives.

這個村子的人至少自清朝以來就在這裏務農。現在，村民們在鋼廠裏打工。“你只能先照顧好基本需求，然後才能對付污染之類的事，”一名麪條店老闆表示。他正趕在吃午飯的人羣出現之前把桌子上的一層薄薄塵垢擦掉。