They are mainly power generation firms. The largest project involves an investment of more than 44.6 billion yuan (US$5.37 billion).

These projects, some of which have started operation, must go through due procedures of environmental impact assessment before they can possibly restart construction or operation.

The SEPA move shows the country is gearing up to redress heavy polluters who, unfortunately, are often a major engine driving local economic growth.

How to balance economic growth and environmental protection has always been a headache for policy-makers. As China's economy has galloped at a fast pace in recent years, its adverse impact on the environment has surfaced and become increasingly obvious.

Meanwhile, an environmental protection framework has been established to cope with the new situation.

The Law on Environmental Impact Assessment was passed in late 2002 and took effect from September, 2003. No projects shall go ahead without such assessment, according to the law. Last year, the SEPA established a special division in charge of environment impact assessment affairs.

An assessor qualification system is under preparation, which will improve the professionalism of environmental impact assessors and make them more accountable for the soundness of their appraisal.

The SEPA has also streamlined the assessment agencies to improve the quality of environmental appraisal. Last month, it punished 68 environmental impact assessment agencies and organizations. It suspended the licences of eight, narrowed the business scope of four and stopped the operation of 11.

Moreover, the administration approved business applications from two Hong Kong companies and a firm from the United Kingdom to promote competition in the sector.

With such a comprehensive environmental impact assessment framework in place, the next step is set to strengthen the enforcement of relevant laws and regulations.

This, however, proves to be a much harder nut to crack.

Many law-breaching projects are invested by local governments or powerful State conglomerates. They either eye local gross domestic product growth or seek instant economic returns as the power supply cannot satisfy demand at this stage.

Their administrative power can often challenge the authority of enforcers of the environmental laws.

There are precedents in which local governments have played a dirty hand in environmental affairs. They allowed some projects to go on without local environmental protection departments' approval.

The environmental impact assessment law stipulates that violation of the law could be punished by a fine of up to 200,000 yuan (US$24,100). The low cap cannot exert substantial pressure on those project investors, who often put in millions or even billions of dollars.

The SEPA also faces the dilemma that huge economic losses would be incurred by local governments or State enterprises, if unapproved projects are stopped.

That the administration has been resolute in stemming environmental pollution merits applause. In the meantime, however, the higher authorities must use a comprehensive method to hold those local officials and State enterprise managers accountable for their decision-making to avoid losses of efficiency or State investment.