"Beijing -- Authorities ordered a solar-panel manufacturing plant in eastern China to close after four days of protests by hundreds of villagers who have accused the facility of causing air and water pollution, Chinese media reported Monday.

The decision is an indication of the growing power of environmental protesters to sway government policy in China. As many as 500 villagers participated in the protests near Haining, an industrial city of 640,000 in coastal Zhejiang province.

The plant's operator, JinkoSolar, a New York Stock Exchange-listed company, issued a public apology Monday."

Jonathan Kaiman reports for the Los Angeles Times September 20, 2011. [2]