China has held over 3,100 officials accountable for poor environmental protection efforts, as the country is fighting pollution and environmental degradation, the government said today.
Central government inspection teams met with over 4,600 people during their inspections of Beijing, Chongqing, Gansu, Guangdong, Hubei, Shaanxi and Shanghai last November and December, detaining 265 of them for irregularities.
The teams received about 4,350 complaints from Guangdong province, the most among the seven regions while Shaanxi province has the most officials being held accountable, state- run Xinhua news agency reported.
Lack of awareness of environmental protection was found to be a common problem and water pollution a universal challenge. Local governments still have to improve infrastructure such as domestic waste treatment facilities, according to the inspection teams.
The seven municipalities and provinces have been asked to make rectification plans to be submitted to the State Council and made public.
The central government environmental protection inspection, which began in 2015 in Hebei province, promotes green development.
The whole country is to be inspected this year and a new round of inspections will start as soon as late April.
China is fighting pollution and environmental degradation after decades of growth left the country saddled with problems such as smog and contaminated soil.
The central government put forth a national plan on environmental improvement for the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), in December last year, which set detailed tasks on polluted air, water and soil.
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