Other industrialists in Zhejiang are also putting a brave face on the issue. Gao Tianle, chairman of the Tengen Group, a leading Wenzhou, Zhejiang province-based industrial electronics company, told the Zhejiang Weekly newspaper that the group will definitely shoulder the responsibility for environmental protection.

"Our group will not produce anything that will cause any possible harm to the environment," Gao says.

"To remain profitable while becoming more eco-friendly, we will need to invest more in research and development."

Sun Shaoding, chairman of Zhejiang Fu Kang Group, says that saving energy is good for factory owners. "As a private company, we have to be responsible for all the expenses and profits on our own and we will eliminate production lines that are inefficient and wasteful."

Fu Kang, which was established in 1995, has been a leader in the region's packaging industry for years, winning many national prizes for quality. The majority of the machinery in the group's factories is imported from Germany, Japan and Canada, Sun says.

"Basically, packaging companies produce very limited environmental pollution," Sun says. To further reduce any damage, "we have recently introduced water-based ink for printing". Water-based ink is considered more environmentally friendly than the chemical-based paint the company used in the past. "We will review every step in the production process to ensure that we emit as little pollution as possible."

Wenzhou's local government has produced a list of companies that are low in efficiency and high in pollution. Companies, including producers of leather goods whose annual production is less than 200,000 units, will be closed this year.

"We are not on the list and we will be fine," says Yu Jian, deputy general manager of Wenzhou San Marco Shoes Co Ltd.

The nine-year-old company owns one of the better-known shoe brands in the domestic market and has annual sales of more than 100 million yuan has been following the even-stricter standards of the European Union (EU), its biggest market.

"The production lines in our company can meet all the national standards of environmental protection in terms of sewage disposal and gas emissions," Yu says. After complaints filed by the EU about residual benzene found in the company's shoes, the company started using a new benzene-free glue. "It was no big deal."

China is aiming high. In the 12th Five-Year Plan, the national government is resolute in upgrading the country from a being "big manufacturer" to a "competent manufacturer".

With more than 40 years of experience in the industry, Ling says the two problems facing Chinese manufacturing across the board: "We do not know for whom we are working and we cannot work for ourselves."

"The Chinese used to enjoy some advantages in human resources, land and the environment. But now, all these advantages are waning.