To combat air pollution, China has been locating the culprits —firms pumping out emissions—around some of the most polluted cities in the country. According to China’s Ministry of Environment (MEP), which has been sending out thousands of environmental offiicers since April, more than 70% of inspected companies failed to meet environmental standards.
The series of inspections is part of a year-long project in 28 cities inside one of the country’s largest regions—colloquially known as “Jing-Jin-Ji” (for Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, which is sometimes referred to by the character ji). Companies such as metal, machine and recycled plastic manufacturers have been under scrutiny. According to four announcements, the latest on June 10 (link in Chinese), a total of 14,727 out of 20,775 companies were found to be producing more emissions than allowed, or operating without pollution-control equipment.
Companies found breaking the law are subjected to different levels of punishments—from a suspension of operations to removing manufacturing equipment or cutting off water and electricity supply, according to the MEP (link in Chinese).
Several cities inside the Jing-Jin-Ji region are known for their terrible air pollution, in particular China’s capital Beijing. The Beijing city government has been naming companies that violate environmental standards in recent years. Last year, in an earlier effort, inspectors found nearly 4,500 local companies (link in Chinese) violated environmental standards, according to state news agency Global Times. Apart from industry emissions, Beijing often sees particularly heavy pollution in winter due to its heavy reliance on burning coal for heat.
Not everyone is taking the inspections well. An inspector was reportedly locked and detained for an hour during his visit to a boiler manufacturer in China’s eastern province Shandong on April, 16, according to Global Times (link in Chinese).