China's compensation system for ecological and environmental damage has handled 55,100 cases since its launch seven years ago, with payouts totaling 33 billion yuan ($4.6 billion), the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Tuesday.

"The reform of the compensation system is a significant mission," Zhao Ke, director of the ministry's Department of Laws, Regulations and Standards, said at a news conference.

First piloted in seven provinces and municipalities in 2016, the system was launched in 2015 and expanded to full-scale trials nationwide in 2018. Over the past decade, China's approach to ecological and environmental damage compensation has progressed from preliminary exploration to in-depth implementation, yielding tangible results.

The system is now integrated into the Civil Code and several key environmental laws, including the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution, as well as laws targeting water, air and soil pollution. In addition, more than 40 local regulations across 28 provincial-level regions include provisions for environmental damage compensation, Zhao said.

Standards and technologies for identifying and assessing damage have also been preliminarily established. These include methods for evaluating farmland ecosystems, gauging the effectiveness of ecological restoration, and conducting baseline surveys of soil conditions.

The ministry has played a leading role in resolving major environmental damage cases, including pollution caused by a paper manufacturing company in the Tengger Desert in the Northwest Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Between 2003 and 2007, the company allegedly dumped black viscous papermaking waste illegally, severely damaging soil, groundwater and vegetation at 14 sites straddling the Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions. The total assessed ecological damage stood at 198 million yuan.

In December 2020, the governments of Zhongwei city in Ningxia and the Alshaa League Administrative Office in Inner Mongolia reached a compensation agreement with the company. The deal included 44.23 million yuan for pollution investigations and cleanup efforts, and 154 million yuan to offset the loss of ecological service functions during the restoration period.

Zhao said the quality and effectiveness of the compensation system have significantly improved. As of Monday, the system had helped restore approximately 57 million cubic meters of soil, 65 million cubic meters of groundwater, 740 million cubic meters of surface water, 160 million square meters of forest land, 540 million square meters of grassland, 4.1 million square meters of wetlands, 10 million square meters of farmland, and removed about 98 million tons of solid waste.

The ministry pledged to continue improving the system by making the process more legal, standardized and scientific.