Henan Drops Fireworks Prohibition Amid Public Uproar

(Beijing) — The Henan provincial government has dropped its ban on the sale and lighting of fireworks amid public opposition and protests from merchants, The Beijing News reported Tuesday.

On Friday, the provincial government’s office for pollution control stopped the sale and use of fireworks in urban areas and town centers in rural counties, and extended the ban on Saturday to include the entire province. The ban would have taken effect on Jan. 18 — 10 days before the start of the Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year.

The move came as much of the province was enveloped in thick smog that had arrived Saturday. It is the second bout of heavy air pollution to hit the central Chinese province this month. Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, was among the top 10 most-polluted cities in China in October, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

But many internet users in the region criticized the measure as overkill that would dampen the festive atmosphere. Lighting fireworks during Spring Festival is popular in China, particularly among families in rural areas.

Worried about potential losses as a result of the ban, about 100 fireworks dealers gathered in Zhengzhou on Monday to protest the order, The Beijing News reported.

In an open letter they sent to the government, the dealers said that about 250 dealers had already stocked up 750 million yuan ($108.7 million) in products for the holiday.

Liang Guobin, head of a fireworks wholesale company in the city of Yingyang, said his company alone had stocked 7 million yuan worth of products. But the dealers received a notice from the government Monday afternoon that the ban has been dropped, Liang said.

"If not, I would have gone bankrupt," he added.

Dismissing the province’s sudden about-face as a joke, professor Wang Yukai at the Chinese Academy of Governance said a government has to be prudent when formulating policies, particularly those with a great impact on people's livelihoods.

"But authorities in Henan have done exactly the opposite," he said. "How can they win public trust?"

The Chinese capital bans fireworks in its most densely populated urban districts — those within The Fifth Ring Road — year-round except during the Spring Festival.

Beijing allows fireworks round-the-clock on the eve of Chinese New Year and the first day of the lunar calendar, and then limits it to between 7 a.m. and midnight until the Lantern Festival, or the 15th day on the lunar calendar, which marks the end of the Spring Festival.

Contact reporter Li Rongde (rongdeli@caixin.com)