ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION<br /> <br />China on Sunday (February 23) demolished 19 steel furnaces in its top steel-producing province of Hebei to reduce production overcapacity as part of an effort to ease air pollution, state media reported.<br /> <br />Nineteen furnaces were torn down on Sunday morning in five cities of Hebei, a major industrial region which surrounds Beijing, as parts of China's campaign against industrial pollution, China's state broadcaster CCTV reported.<br /> <br />China has vowed to tackle pollution in Hebei, saying in a wide-ranging action plan in September that it would ban new projects in some industries, close outdated steel and cement facilities, and slash coal use.<br /> <br />Hebei, home to some of the most polluted cities in China, has promised to cut total steel capacity by 86 million tonnes, about 40 percent of last year's production, by 2020.<br /> <br />Its capital Shijiazhuang routinely recorded "beyond index" measurements of particulate matter (PM) in early 2013.
