Two-year, high-level inspections saw companies fined 1.43b yuanThe biggest environmental inspection ever in China - covering 31 provincial regions over two years - led to 18,199 government officials being punished for their failure to control pollution, it was announced on Thursday.The central government inspectors exposed 135,000 cases, many featuring common problems such as weak enforcement of regulations to improve air and water quality, said Liu Changgen, deputy director of the National Environmental Inspection Office."The inspections motivated local governments to show their full strength in combating pollution, with tough penalties meted out to the vast number of officials who failed in their duties," he said.About 29,000 companies were also fined a combined 1.43 billion yuan ($218 million) for failing to meet standards to reduce pollution, while 1,527 people were detained for potential criminal activity.Over a series of monthlong inspections, the Ministry of Environmental Protection found some local governments had "performed poorly by showing negligence, inaction and a refusal to implement controls", said Liu, whose office is part of the ministry.The No 1 problem was the severe air and water pollution that had occurred in some places because local authorities had not taken effective environmental measures, leading to public concern.For example, in Sichuan province's Zigong, the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air increased by 32.5 percent in the first half of 2017, while quality tests showed only 11.1 percent of the city's water was above the national standard in 2016, compared with 50 percent in 2013, the inspection team reported to the provincial government.Nationally, inspectors found a lack of facilities to process the daily waste from urban regions, with 12 million metric tons of untreated sewage discharged directly into waterways, Liu said on Thursday.In response, cities have accelerated construction of treatment facilities, such as Guangdong province's Shenzhen, which has started to expand its sewage network by 2,000 kilometers.Inspection teams also discovered illegal and excessive exploitation of mines, water resources and wetlands, including in Hainan and Shandong provinces, which showed that decision-makers had not been paying close attention, Liu said."Next year, our teams will revisit these provinces to check whether the problems have been solved," he added. "Inspections in each place lasted for only a month, but the message they sent to officials - to protect and improve the environment - should last a long time."[email protected]adjustable wristbandssilicone rubber bandssilicone bracelets custom cheaptrio spinners1 inch wide rubber bandscheap custom wristbandswristband creation24hr wristband
The military will put an end to all commercial activities before the end of this year, according to a guideline released on June 11.Halting commercial activities is a decision of strategic importance made by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Central Military Commission and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said the guideline, jointly issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission.The move is also a significant part of the ongoing reform of national defense and the military, and will help create an enabling environment for the military to stick to its mission and improve its combat capacity.According to the guideline, the military will put an end to all programs that aim to make profit. Programs that deviate from its main mission or provide services for society will also be halted.Contracts between the military and civilian entities that do not conclude by year's end should be terminated by that time through negotiation or legal procedures, it said, adding that compensation will be provided for economic losses.Different strategies should be adopted to terminate existing programs that are deemed sensitive or sophisticated. Some former military services can be absorbed through military-civilian integration.The guideline said all properties, land and reception facilities owned by the military and used for commercial purposes, will be administered and allocated by the Central Military Commission. Terminating such services was the shared responsibility of the military as well as central and local authorities.
