Major industrial polluters will be barred from raising capital on the stock market, the top environment watchdog said yesterday while pledging to step up efforts to reduce industrial waste.

"Enterprises found guilty of environmental violations or failing to meet pollutant discharge requirements will not be allowed to list their shares," said Zhou Shengxian, minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).

Listed companies "should open up their environmental records to public scrutiny", Zhou added.

In addition, starting 2009, all enterprises which discharge pollutants must obtain environmental permits. "Otherwise, they will not be allowed to continue, or start, operations," he warned.

"We will speed up industrial restructuring to ensure that the target of phasing out outdated techniques, equipment and products is met by the end of 2010," Zhou said.

His remarks follow encouraging news reports that the nation has made headway in curbing pollutant emissions.

Both air and water pollution dropped for the first time in the first nine months, thanks to intensified environmental protection efforts.

Figures released last week by the environmental watchdog show that in the first three quarters, emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) - the major air pollutant - hit 19.06 million tons, down 1.81 percent year on year. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) - a key water pollution index - was 10.44 million tons, down 0.28 percent.

Zhou said that maximum levels of pollutant emissions would be set for different regions; and those that cross the limit will not be allowed to embark on new projects.

He also listed other key measures to combat water pollution, including enhancing the protection of drinking water resources and improving assessments of water exploitation projects.

Zhou said he hoped the quality of all of the country's key drinking water resources reaches national standards by 2008; by 2010, 70 percent of urban sewage is processed before being discharged; and COD emissions drop by 10 percent from 2005.

A survey last year showed that surface water was generally affected by "medium pollution". One third of the 744 samples of surface water were graded "worst polluted".

(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2007)