Search China Travel News:

Companies and mines across four provinces have been punished for violating environmental protection laws, it was announced yesterday.

The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) ordered in mid-May that the cases, which had been reported by members of the public, be dealt with as quickly as possible.

In Tongliang County of Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, three paper-making companies saw their licences suspended because operations did not meet national standards.

In another case, environmental authorities in Jiangxi Province, working with the government of Pingxiang city, shut down the Lianhua paper company in Lianhua County.

The company, established in 2002, had been discharging waste directly into a local river without treatment, causing serious pollution to the local drinking water supply.

A third case involves 420,000 tons of left over chrome residue which has accumulated in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, a legacy of the Changsha chrome chromic salt company that was shut down in 2003.

Changsha plans to clean up the pile before 2008. Before then, a series of measures will be put in place to prevent possible pollution.

According to SEPA, authorities have also shut down 37 illegal gold mines around the Mafangwo mining area in Guangyuan, Southwest China's Sichuan Province.