China punishes local officials for environmental offences

BEIJING -- China's environmental watchdog said Monday that it has held several local officials from Hubei Province accountable for environment-related misconduct.

Officials in Huanggang, Hubei were found to have turned a deaf ear to violations of environmental protection rules, including excessive emissions and insufficient pollution control equipment at enterprises, said the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

The officials held accountable were publicly named and given Party disciplinary or administrative punishment.

Their misconduct was discovered by a central environmental inspection team in Hubei last August.

The inspection was part of China's campaign to fight pollution and environmental damage, as decades of growth have left the country with smog, polluted water, and contaminated soil.

Four rounds of inspections have been launched since 2016, covering all provincial-level regions and achieving satisfactory results.

More than 20,000 Chinese have been held accountable for environment-related misconduct over the past two years.