The Jinko Solar Holding Co Ltd in Haining City in Zhejiang Province has been shut down by authorities as it fell victim to looting staged by some protesters last week.

An estimated 500 residents stormed the factories of Jinko Solar, which manufactures solar panels, and destroyed the windows and office premises of the company listed in the New York Stock Exchange.

Authorities said the looters and those who ransacked the offices had been arrested, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Reason behind Protests

Authorities said four cases of cancer had been discovered among the residents and not 31 as earlier claimed by the villagers.

Because of these false claims, more than 500 villagers went to the factory Thursday night demanding an explanation, the Haining government said. Some protesters even charged into the factory compound, overturning eight company vehicles and ransacking offices.

On Friday, four police vehicles were damaged by the protesters, The Shanghai Daily reported.

Video footage posted on the Haining municipal government's information office website showed the factory's smashed windows, while dozens of police patrolling and maintaining order near the solar plant.

It is reported that the factory's waste disposal system has been failing pollution tests since April. Despite a warning from the relevant authorities, the plant had not effectively controlled the pollution, Xinhua News Agency cited Chen Hongming, deputy head of Haining's environmental protection bureau, as saying.

Toxic waste from the plant, which manufactures photovoltaic panels, cells and wafers, contained excessive fluorine, The Shanghai Daily reported.

A 64-year-old Hongxiao villager surnamed Shi told The Associated Press not only did the factory discharge waste water into a river, it also spewed dense smoke out of a dozen chimneys.

"An elementary school and a kindergarten are located less than a kilometer from the plant. My house is only about 500 meters from the plant. Many fish died after the factory discharged waste into a small river," Shi said.

"The villagers strongly request that this factory be moved to another area. I am very worried about the health of the younger generation," he said in a report by peopledailyonline.com.

A number of people suspected of theft and vandalism during the protest have been caught by police.

The incident was the latest major environmental protest in China.

"The villagers strongly request that this factory be moved to another area. I am very worried about the health of the younger generation," the AP quoted the old man saying referring to the primary and kindergarten schools near the plant.

The Shanghai Daily reported Jinko Solar produces fluorine as a by-product waste from manufacturing photovoltaic panels and cells and wafers.