"New Protest in Chinese City Over Planned Chemical Plant"

"Hundreds of people took to the streets of the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming on Thursday to protest against the planned production of a chemical at a refinery, the second demonstration this month against the project."

"China's increasingly affluent urban population has begun to object to a model of growth at all costs, which has fuelled the economy for three decades, with the environment emerging as a focus of concern and protests.

Photographs on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, showed a crowd of protesters in the center of the city carrying banners protesting against production of paraxylene (PX), a chemical used in making fabrics and plastic bottles, at the planned plant."

Ben Blanchard reports for Reuters May 17, 2013.