Emergency Heating Supply Plan Adopted Nationwide

In order to survive the cold winter weather, municipal governments across the country have put into effect an emergency heating supply plan. Shopping centers, theaters and some industry plants in cities like Beijing and Wuhan will feel colder in order to guarantee local residents' daily usage of gas.

Let's take a closer look with our reporter Liu Min.

The deputy director of the Beijing centralized heating authority, Tian Jinfeng, is issuing a command to the Shuang Yushu heating center to reduce the pressure of its heating caldron. More than 4,000 non-residential buildings have been ordered to reduce their interior temperatures to a standard minimum of 16 degrees Celsius.

"We are asking those big non-residential buildings such as shopping centers and supermarkets with temperatures of above 18 degrees Celsius to lower 2 degrees. But we will guarantee the heating supply to places like hospitals and schools. The temperature of the residential areas will stay the same."

The government action was taken in response to spiking usage of natural gas during the extremely low temperatures and heavy snow fall last Sunday. Beijing has just seen its heaviest snow in the past 59 years, with the temperature reaching a low of minus 16 degrees. According to the latest forecast from the meteorological bureau, the average temperature for the following 10 days will be 10 below zero. Li Nan is from the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and Environment.

"The temperature is keeping low while the heating supply hasn't seen a big jump. Such heating supply controls will probably continue for some time."

These actions are not exclusive to Beijing. Other parts of China were also gripped by a sustained cold snap when a rare snowstorm in the central Hubei Province kept all school children at home. The National Meteorological Center has forecast snow in 12 provinces and autonomous regions Thursday, including Xinjiang in the far west, the three northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, and Guizhou Province in the southwest.

According to the State Grid Corporation of China, the leading power grid operator, central and eastern China has reported a power crunch in some cities such as Nanjing and Nanchang in Mideast China. In Wuhan, more than 400 enterprises and manufacturers are taking turns stopping production in order to ensure uninterrupted electricity and heating supplies for residential homes. This is the first time in the past ten years the city has adopted such measures. Wu Xianhan, the manager of ship manufacturer Hanqiao Company, says they are strictly following the emergency orders.

"We can understand totally and we will figure out how to remit our losses after the severe weather - we could work overtime afterwards. As an enterprise in this society, it's also our responsibility to guarantee other residents have a full supply of electricity. Now we are working on those production processes that don't need electricity to keep the work going."

Currently, there are still no reports of heating supplies to residential homes, schools and hospitals across the country being cut off.

For China Drive, I'm Liu Min.