Investigations by senior lawmakers uncover pollution control problems

Lawmakers have called for more laws and institutional measures to be introduced to spur China's transition to a green development model, which central authorities have made a priority for the next five years and beyond.

The call was made in a report, based on investigative tours by senior legislators from June to September, that was submitted for review on Wednesday to the ongoing bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

Legislators taking part in the tours, which were led by Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, and three vice-chairpersons, found marked achievements in environmental progress, said Ding Zhongli, an NPC vice-chairman. But they also found a series of problems with local governments' implementation of a 2018 standing committee resolution on lawfully promoting victory in the country's pollution control campaigns, he said while explaining the report to the legislature.

"The country's industrial structure that is dominated by heavy chemical industries, its energy consumption structure that depends on coal and its transport structure that relies on roads have yet to be fundamentally changed," he said. "Emissions of some major pollutants remain high."

Ding also said an inadequate legal system and poor law enforcement may hinder the country's green transformation.

While legislation on a series of environmental issues should be accelerated, some existing environmental laws hardly met current needs and needed to be amended, he said. Some laws lack necessary supporting regulations and standards, Ding added. A regulation to help identify soil polluters, for example, has yet to be drafted, even though the Law on Soil Pollution Prevention and Control was put into effect in January last year.

Inadequacies in law enforcement and governing capabilities meant many regions have not ensured comprehensive and efficient supervision of environmental protection, he said, and the monetary penalties for environmental violations remain low.

"Despite repeated prohibitions, illegal discharges of pollutants still occur," he said.

Ding called on the government to establish an information sharing mechanism among environmental law enforcement departments, public security bureaus, procuratorates and courts to ramp up investigations into environmental violations and enhance prosecutions of those responsible for them.

"The government should also improve financial and taxation policies to motivate and attract the participation of the private sector in environmental protection work," he said, adding that more investment should be made in research and development to find pollution control solutions.

An important Party conference in late October that deliberated on the country's priorities for the next five years and beyond urged a wide-ranging green transformation.

To achieve a fundamental improvement in environmental quality by 2035, China will endeavor to make production and lifestyles green throughout all areas of society, according to a proposal unveiled in November after the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.