China punishes 12,000 firms for environmental offenses

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, November 22, 2003

China punishes 12,000 firms for environmental offenses

China had punished 12,000 firms for breaking environmental laws during the first 10 months of the year, an official for environmental protection said here Friday.

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China had punished 12,000 firms for breaking environmental laws during the first 10 months of the year, an official for environmental protection said here Friday.

Addressing a seminar on China's ecological environment and economy, Wang Yuqing, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration of China, said 33.5 percent of the firms dealt with according to law were using outdated production facilities banned by the government for inefficiency and pollution.

About 13.6 percent of the 12,000 firms had violated environmental laws on construction projects, said Wang.

The country's environmental situation allows no room for optimism as the environmental deterioration trend has not yet been contained, he warned.

Environmental protection and pollution control efforts could not match the pace of pollution in the cause of faster economic development, said Wang, blaming weak law enforcement and local protectionism for the problem.

Some local officials are short-sighted by giving priority only to development, turning a blind eye to violation of environmental laws by some enterprises, he said.

That is one of the important reasons why the incidence of environmental law offenses remain high, he added.

China's farmland accounts for seven percent of the world's total, while its 1.3 billion population is 22 percent of the world's total.

Wang said the country's faster population growth and inefficient growth mode produced great pressure on its environment, and it would take a long period of time for the country to solve its environmental problems.

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