The construction of a petrochemical plant in Maoming in south China's Guangdong Province will be halted if the majority of residents object to it, the municipal government has announced.

"We are at a stage of disseminating information relating to the paraxylene (PX) project," a municipal government spokesman told Xinhua News Agency on March 31 anonymously, adding that the local government would not go ahead with the project without consulting the public.

More than 1,000 locals staged protests on March 29 and 30 in front of the government building to express their objection to the project.

Since 2007, PX projects planned in Xiamen in Fujian Province, Dalian in Liaoning Province and Kunming in Yunnan Province have been shut down after residents protested, as they believed that the facilities would threaten the local environment. PX is a material used for making a number of polyester products.

Maoming is a major Chinese petrochemical production base. The PX project was approved in 2012 with an annual production capacity expected to meet 600,000 tons.