As of Wednesday, more than 83,000 companies faced inspection and over 6,300 of them have been designated for investigation and prosecution due to possible environmental violations, SEPA officials said.

Meanwhile, 283 people responsible for violating environmental regulations have been found guilty and punished, including 12 government employees.

The investigations and prosecution of violators were all part of a nationwide inspection program, triggered by a national televised conference held by SEPA on May 28 which addressed cleaning up environmental violations and containing pollution across the country.

In the past two years, environmental pollution issues in China have become more critical with the rapid growth of the country's economy, said Tian Weiyong, director of SEPA's Center for Environmental Emergencies and Accidents, yesterday at a news briefing.

Pollution in China has been on the rise and more environmental pollution has greatly affected the public and social stability, he said.

After the televised conference, SEPA sent seven inspection and supervision teams that also included news reporters, who traveled to 12 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities to address key environmental problems.

"A number of polluting companies have been ordered to stop production or the equipment would be dismantled," Tian said, adding that the situation is more serious in the country's vast western regions.

Environmental protection departments at all levels will continue to complete a comprehensive inspection on all polluting companies and construction projects across the country by the end of August, he added.

Companies or projects that are found to have violated environmental laws must find solutions in a limited period of time.

Tian said SEPA will also continue to send supervision teams to oversee how the inspection work is carried out.

China released its official national environmental status report for last year at the end of May, which found that "the overall environmental situation in China is still grave."

According to the report, pollution in all seven major rivers in the country increased last year, with the water quality of the Yellow, Huaihe and Liaohe rivers the worst due to their dramatic drops in water volume.

Coastal pollution remained serious in the East China and Bohai seas while total suspended particulate pollution in urban areas became more widespread, official sources said.

(China Daily July 12, 2002)