South China's Guangdong Province has ordered a halt to any further expansion of three major polluting industries in the Pearl River Delta area, a major manufacturing base.

Chen Guangrong, deputy director of the provincial bureau of environment protection, said it would reject applications for any new cement, ceramics and plate glass production facilities.

The bureau would also reject any proposals to expand existing facilities and close plants that failed to meet environmental protection requirements, Chen said.

The three sectors were one of the main sources of suspended particles in the air, he said.

The three sectors emitted 327.8 million tonnes of dust, 233 million tonnes of sulfur dioxide and 218.2 million tonnes of oxynitride in 2007.

The region, which includes the major cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan, had 210 cement plants, 338 ceramics plants and 29 plate glass producers, according to an official survey in 2007.

Chen said the government encouraged companies in the three sectors to invest in the more resource-rich, but less-developed eastern and western Guangdong.