Polluters should pay the bill

The cadmium polluting the Longjiang River in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has highlighted the issue of who should pay for pollution cleanups and the damage they cause to the environment.

Since 2009 there have been more than 30 serious incidents of heavy metal pollution by chemical, photovoltaic, pharmaceutical and IT companies in about 10 provinces.

The affected areas, mostly in East China, are densely populated and the pollution will cause long-term harm to both the environment and public health.