Companies flout pollution laws

Major state-owned enterprises (SOE) ignored energy saving and pollution regulations, said a report published by National Audit Office (NAO) yesterday.

The central government has annual targets to reduce energy consumption and pollution emissions for the country's 1,000 heavy polluting and high energy-consuming enterprises based on China's 11th five-year (2006-2010) plan.

Sources from the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said enterprises found violating environmental laws would be severely punished.