BEIJING - China's largest producer of plastic bags said it has closed more than a month after the government announced a high- profile ban on stores handing out free bags in an effort to clean up the environment.

Huaqiang factory, in central Henan province, closed at the beginning of February, said a woman who answered the telephone at the factory. All 10,000 workers at the factory were sent home, said the woman, who gave only her family name, Hai, as is common in China.