Greenpeace China had joined hands with the government of Shenyang city in northeast China to increase the transparency of local environmental information and curb pollution by enterprises, a Greenpeace official confirmed on Saturday.

"Greenpeace China and the city government of Shenyang have signed a memo on the environmental information openness project, the first time for the environmental organization to cooperate with a Chinese local government since its access to the country ten years ago," said Mei Jiayong, a Greenpeace China senior official.

The project would ensure that the local residents have convenient access to the most updated environmental information and the punishment on the polluters.

Greenpeace China would take care of the collection of the relevant experiences gained by other countries and share them with Shenyang to make the current project more scientific and feasible, Mei said.

It would also help train environmental protection volunteers, he added.

"We support Shenyang's cooperation with Greenpeace because it's one further step based on our current policies," said Bie Tao, an official with the State Environmental Protection Administration of China.

(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2008)