Some local officials and government departments were disciplined after being found guilty of dereliction of duty for failing to enforce the policy of shutting down severely polluting enterprises, sources with the State Environmental Protection Administration disclosed on Wednesday in Beijing.

According to administration officials, most of the enterprises were concentrated in central and western parts of China, where the relatively underdeveloped economy has led some local governments to turn a blind eye to polluting industries.

Most of the enterprises involved manufacture paper or produce minerals.

During inspections organized by central and local environmental protection authorities in previous years, many of the enterprises had been ordered to shut down but they secretly resumed production when the inspectors left.

The administration stressed that such conduct would be severely punished, given the firms' violations of previous instructions to shut down.

China began to impose strict environmental regulations over factories two decades ago and has achieved apparent progress in most former heavily polluted regions.

But administration officials admitted that some heavily polluting factories in central and western regions showed signs of making a return this year.

Local protectionism is the major factor leading to the comeback of these polluting enterprises, the environmental body said.

Lacking law-enforcing powers, the administration can only increase its supervision and encourage local governments to stop violations.

Tian Weiyong, a division chief at the administration in charge of supervising environmental pollution cases, said: "Some local governments refused to cooperate in punishing those factories, which made our work very difficult."

Tian said the environmental administration is actively working on a new environmental-protection mechanism, under which leading officials of province, municipalities and autonomous regions will be responsible for fighting pollution.

(China Daily September 26, 2002)