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China will continue to phase out unneeded industrial capacity this year, with 2,255 enterprises closing facilities, while the government fights the worst power shortage in years, a statement on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) website said on Monday.

Obsolete production capacity in 18 major industrial sectors - including iron, steel, coke, cement, flat glasses, paper making as well as printing and dyeing - will be eliminated, according to the statement.

The MIIT statement said that production capacity for 31.22 million tons of iron, 27.94 million tons of steel, 19.75 million tons of coke and 153.27 million tons of cement will be removed by the end of the year as the country continues to reduce pollution, conserve energy and upgrade industry.

China is facing the worst power shortage this year since 2004, while industrial power consumption is growing at 12 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from the China Electricity Council