BEIJING: The country’s high-profile central environmental inspection has proved to be effective in addressing difficult-to-resolve issues and promoting high-quality growth, a senior environmental official said.
“It has helped address a large batch of outstanding environmental problems on the agenda that were unresolved for an extended period of time,” Zhai Qing, vice-minister of ecology and environment, said at a news conference organized by the State Council Information Office on Wednesday.
The country has rolled out two rounds of the inspection since 2016.
Its second round, which started in 2019, covered all provincial regions on the Chinese mainland in addition to six centrally administered State-owned enterprises and two government bodies－the National Energy Administration and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
Usually led by ministerial-level officials, inspection teams report to a central group headed by Vice-Premier Han Zheng. The office of the inspection is based in the ministry.
When the first round of inspection concluded in 2018, inspectors specified 3,294 major violations that needed rectification, he said. To date, 95 percent of the cases have been rectified.
The second round of inspection was conducted in six batches.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
