Hepeng Jia and Yue Yuan/Beijing, China 

One year after a public protest halted the construction of a chemical plant in the south-eastern coastal city of Xiamen, the billion-dollar factory looks likely to relocate to a remote fishing area in neighbouring Zhangpu county. 

On 13 January, China's Ministry of Environmental Protection passed an environmental evaluation of the US$1.48 billion para-xylene plant being proposed by the Taiwan petrochemical giant Xianglu Group, a key step towards the factory being built. 

In December 2007, Xiamen municipal government suspended the construction of the Tenglong para-xylene plant after a fierce public campaign led by a group of prominent chemical scientists. Since then, Tenglong's future has looked uncertain.  

Yufen Zhao, an organic chemist at Xiamen University and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been leading this campaign. 'I think the news [of Tenglong passing this evaluation in a new location] means the government has finally accepted our views,' Zhao told Chemistry World. 

The Zhangpu county government and environmental protection bureau have been uncontactable, but in the county government's annual working report released on 5 February, the para-xylene plant - renamed the Gulei Major Chemical Project - was stressed as the top priority in the county's working agenda. The new project name comes from its location - the Gulei peninsula in Zhangpu. 

'We must concentrate the efforts of the whole county towards promoting the Gulei project's formal arrival and realising the four billion yuan (US$588.2 million) investment in the project,' said Chen Hanfu, Zhangpu's government head, in the report. 

According to the leading national newspaper Southern Weekend  , the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is now reviewing the Gulei project, the final step before its formal construction.  

Compared with Xiamen, Zhangpu is relatively poor. And its officials are expecting the new plant to bring billions of yuan in tax revenue to the area.  

However, the public protests soon spread from Xiamen to Zhangpu, particularly to the villages in the Gulei peninsula. The local people are saying 'Xiamen residents are human beings, so are we', indicating that they are fearful about the potential pollution from the new plant.  

'para-Xylene on its own might not be too dangerous when used carefully in labs, but this plant will use many chemicals, including benzene, which is related to pollution,' says a chemist from Xiamen who wishes to remain anonymous.  

The Southern Weekend  reported that several organisers of the protests in Zhangpu were arrested last year. The county government, keen to avoid such protests, has launched a massive public education project, informing people that para-xylene is as safe as alcohol in terms of toxicity.