Harbin residents will have their central heating switched on early this year –– no later than Oct 10 for the majority of the city.

It was announced by Harbin government on Sept 28 at a press conference on central heating issues.

According to the plan, trial operations for the central heating system will start before Oct 10 to guarantee a reliable supply. However, for a few residential communities that have previously had heating equipment modernized, their heating will not be switched on until Oct 20.

Harbin has made significant progress in improving heating services this year.

Four central heating projects constructed in 2017 can provide heating services for building areas covering 8 million square meters.

Harbin also demolished 535 coal-fired boilers in old residential communities in line with local environmental protection policies, bringing an extra 200,000 households into Harbin’s central heating system.

In addition, Harbin renovated old heating pipelines measuring around 50 kilometers to guarantee safety of the central heating system.