Chinese regulator criticizes 3 regions for environmental offences

BEIJING - China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment Monday held talks with party officials or government leaders from three regions for not doing enough to solve their environmental problems.

The ministry named and shamed Shizhu county in Chongqing municipality, Yulin city in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Yichun in Jiangxi province for seriously violating environmental regulations.

In Shizhu, an industrial park plan introduced in 2009 misappropriated over 336 hectares of a wetland nature reserve, seriously damaging land vegetation and the eco-system.

Instead of trying to solve the problems, county officials have been seeking to narrow the scale of the nature reserve by nearly 90 percent, the ministry said.

"Officials have passively responded to correction requirements," the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Yulin is way behind schedule on plans for water pollution control projects, while Yichun failed to address dust pollution as required.

In recent years, the ministry has constantly arranged talks with local officials, urging them to take environment issues seriously as tackling pollution is one of the "three tough battles" China aims to win in next three years.

China introduced a new environment protection tax on Jan 1, to protect the environment and cut pollutants.

Companies and public institutions that discharge listed pollutants into the environment will be taxed for producing noise, air and water pollutants, and solid waste.