More than 10,000 residents have signed a petition to protest against construction of a LCD factory near a residential area in the Nanshan district of Shenzhen even though the company says the project has passed an environmental evaluation and is safe.

According to a report by People's Daily online, residents living near Kehua Road have collected some 10,000 signatures demanding the government stop the construction of the factory.

The report quoted one resident as saying the project has been proceeding for half a year, with residents thinking it was an office building until December when they found out it is a LCD factory.

The resident quoted — and others — believe the factory will cause serious pollution as several communities, two kindergartens, a primary school and a waterworks are within 100 meters of the construction site.

They also questioned the owner of the factory, Shenzhen Xunmei Technology, and the Shenzhen Academy of Environmental Sciences. The residents said the company and academy did not research the practicality of the project and did not seek opinions from nearby residents.

Another resident was quoted as saying statistics show only 38 questionnaires were sent out, but in his community there are more than 6,000 people.

Shenzhen Xunmei Technology told People's Daily online on Monday the project involves three office buildings and three small buildings for research and development, not a factory, and they will not cause pollution to the air or water.

However, residents told the website they do not trust this reply. They said the environmental report stated that the construction includes a LCD production line, not just a research and development center.

They are demanding the government and the company confirm in written statements that there will be no factory.