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A worker at a printing and dyeing company in Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Shaoxing in East China's Zhejiang province is relocating printing and dyeing companies to a designated area to increase production capacity and reduce pollution, local media reported on March 28.

The printing and dyeing sector has long been a pillar industry in Shaoxing. The production capacity of this sector in Shaoxing accounts for nearly a third of the nation's total.

Last year, Shaoxing generated 21.71 billion yuan ($3.41 billion) in the added value of the sector, up 37.1 percent year-on-year. The added value of this sector in Shaoxing is expected to hit 10 billion yuan in 2022.

However, the industry in Shaoxing has for years been facing issues including high energy consumption and costs as well as heavy pollution.

To address these pain points, Shaoxing has shut down 139 printing and dyeing companies that discharged huge amounts of waste and regrouped 115 companies into 57 before relocating them to an industrial park.

By building facilities for sewage treatment, central heating, gas supply and pollution discharge in the industrial park, Shaoxing has managed to reduce the consumption of coals by nearly 20,000 metric tons a year.