Chinese provinces that failed to tackle pollution named by government
- Environment ministry singles out two provinces after its latest inspections, saying they have failed the government and the public
- Provinces ordered to submit rectification plans, with firms and individuals threatened with fines, closures and criminal punishment
The inspection teams set up hotlines for local whistle-blowers and are given powers to make spot checks at firms and summon any official for interview. During the inspections, firms can be punished and fined, and officials even face dismissal or detention in the most serious cases.
In separate statements referring to the two provinces, the ministry of ecology and environment said both Henan in central China and Yunnan on the southwestern border had made some progress but neither meet “the requirements of the central government or the expectations of the public”.
Both provinces have been ordered to draw up rectification plans and submit them to the State Council within 30 working days. Failure of firms and individuals to rectify the problems will result in fines, closures and potentially criminal punishment.
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The local governments of Henan and Yunnan could not be immediately reached for comment.
The ministry said Henan, home to some of China’s most smog-prone cities, failed to meet energy efficiency requirements over the 2016-20 period and did not properly shut down obsolete industry.
Henan’s Anyang, which ranked as China’s smoggiest city in 2020, failed to meet a requirement to close 6.6 million tonnes of inefficient coking capacity last year, the ministry said. It also did not meet a target to cut the amount of coking coal used to produce steel, it added.
In Yunnan, it said, officials “did not have a clear understanding of the fragile and sensitive reality of Yunnan’s ecological environment”. The province had failed to tackle issues like energy efficiency, sewage treatment and water pollution, and had not protected a number of major lakes from overdevelopment, the ministry added.
