Local governments warned against supporting polluters

China's environment watchdog publicized Tuesday nine major pollution cases and told local governments to take "real" substantial steps to tackle the issues or face punishment.

This is the first time that SEPA openly told local governments not to protect polluters. The SEPA vowed to supervise the cases and intervene with other law-enforcement departments when necessary.

The nine cases of pollution involved dozens of enterprises in 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. These areas mainly manufacture paper, calcium carbide, coking coal and iron alloy.

The pollution from the companies result in mounting complaints from local residents, said Lu Xinyuan, director of SEPA's Environment Supervision Bureau, at a press conference here.

"We shall resort to legal, administrative, economic and other means to tackle the issues," he said. He warned those who were found behind the pollution would be penalized according to relevant laws and regulations.

China's environment has been deteriorating during the past two decades mainly due to local governments' over-zealous pursuit of economic growth to the neglect of environment.

The Chinese central government pledged to take harsher measures to tackle the related issues, but local governments often hesitated to take substantial action for fear of slowing down local economic growth.

A senior discipline inspection official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) recently warned government officials throughout China to stop allowing environmental pollution.

"We will punish whoever causes major environmental pollution and ecological damage due to his misuse of authority or neglect of his responsibilities," said Wu Guanzheng, secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, during his inspection tour to SEPA in late April.