G20 blues lie ahead

Residents of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) can look forward to unusually clear skies as restrictions on industry to limit pollution ahead of next month’s G20 summit come into effect. According to media reports, notices to shut or reduce output for two weeks ahead of the 4-5th September event have been sent to firms across a swathe of industry. At the ports, movements of large ships and tankers will be suspended. The restrictions encompass a huge area stretching 300km around Hangzhou, the summit location, including Shanghai and other major centres in the YRD. The area is home to over 10% of China’s population and alarger share of many industrial activities. It remains to be seen how draconian the shutdowns turn out to be, but a discernible negative impact is likelyin some of the activity data for August and perhaps September too.