Broader environment checks on table

China is mulling a plan to assess provincial environmental performances, according to the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning (CAEP).

CAEP is cooperating with Yale and Columbia universities on the design of an evaluation system for environmental performances at provincial levels, Cao Zhiguo, the program's liaison official, told China Daily yesterday.

"China has already set criteria to determine if the counties, cities and provinces are ecologically sound, but remains nascent on environmental performance assessment, especially at the provincial level," Wang Jinnan, vice-president of CAEP, was quoted by yesterday's China Business Week as saying.