More than 40 paper mills and goldmines in China have been shut down for emitting excessive pollution, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) announced Thursday.

This is another major move taken by the country to crack down on heavy polluters and reverse the trend of environmental degradation.

In a statement, SEPA said the paper mills and goldmines severely polluted rivers and damaged the surrounding environment, eliciting massive complaints from local residents.

In Tongliang country of southwestern Chongqing Municipality, the operation licenses of three paper mills were revoked and all other paper mills that failed environmental standards were ordered to suspend production, said SEPA.

The government of Lianhua County in eastern Jiangxi Province also closed down a local paper mill, and personnel responsible for the pollution were penalized, according to SEPA.

Thirty-seven illegal goldmines in Guangyuan City of southwestern Sichuan Province were closed down, with relevant equipment blown-up or demolished, said SEPA, adding that a number of local government officials, including director of a local environmental protection bureau, were given administrative punishment for dereliction of duty.

SEPA had also urged to the city government of Changsha, capital of central-south Hunan Province, to properly handle the 422,000 tons of chromium residue left behind by a local dichromate plant shut-down in 2003.

Changsha pledged to completely resolve the issue by the end of 2008 while taking temporary measures, such as building walls around the residue dumping ground, to prevent the powders of the residue from being carried by the wind, according to SEPA.

SEPA vowed to continue its fight against polluters, warning local governmental officials not to support them.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2005)