China's Ministry of Supervision said Wednesday it would monitor
more closely and punish departments who violate regulations on
energy-saving and pollution control.
Paper-making plants, factories using lead, companies located
close to drinking water sources, and the iron and steel enterprises
will be the focus of the supervision, the Ministry said in a
circular.
Local governments or departments in charge of industry have been
warned -- if they fail to implement state regulations and policies,
soft-pedal on energy saving and pollution control standards or
launch new projects without an environmental evaluation, the staff
responsible will be seriously punished, said the circular.
Those who neglect their duties or fabricate environmental
statistics will also be punished, the circular added.
China's State Council, or the cabinet, published a circular at
the beginning of this month asking all local authorities,
government departments and companies to report before June 30 their
detailed plans for carrying out the General Work Plan for Energy
Conservation and Pollutant Discharge Reduction.
The General Work Plan, jointly developed by the National
Development and Reform Commission and other government departments,
sets a target of reducing energy consumption per unit of gross
domestic product (GDP) by 20 percent and major pollutants discharge
by 10 percent in the 11th five-year plan period ending 2010.
The Chinese government has reiterated its intention to meet
strict energy efficiency and pollutant reduction targets although
it failed to achieve the goal set for 2006.
The six high energy-consuming and highly polluting industries --
electricity, steel, nonferrous metals, construction materials, oil
processing and chemicals -- which account for nearly 70 percent of
energy consumption and sulfur dioxide discharges of the entire
industrial sector, grew by 20.6 percent in the first quarter of
2007, 6.6 percentage points higher than the same period a year
earlier.
(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2007)
