China names and shames heavy polluters during this week’s thick smog

China has publicly named more than 20 enterprises it says broke environmental rules during this week’s outbreak of hazardous smog in the country’s north, its latest attempt to bring lawbreaking firms to account by shaming them.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection accused steel and paper mills, cement plants, power generators and chemical producers of a range of offences, including ignoring output suspensions, “maliciously” evading government inspections and falsifying production data.

Beijing’s latest public shaming campaign - in which strongly-worded ministry reprimands are disseminated by local TV and newspapers - is its most overt attempt to bring polluters to account by exposing their infringements to wider community scrutiny, one part of the government’s broader “war on pollution” launched in 2014.

But with employment still a priority and penalties too weak, this tactic - used in the past, albeit in a more low-key manner - has done little to discourage firms from evading or ignoring emergency measures imposed in 24 northern cities put on smog “red alert” this week.

“Naming and shaming is meant to deter firms from environmental violations,” said Alex Wang, an expert in Chinese environmental law at UCLA. “But where the economics don’t work out for firms, and in places where non-compliance is common, [the tactic] won’t have much of an effect.”