Revised law boosts ecological cleanup

Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a series of special reports to mark achievements in various sectors during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15). The fifth plenary session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China concludes on Thursday. Discussion of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) is high on the agenda of the meeting.

Since coming into force on Jan 1, the revised Environmental Protection Law and its supplementary regulations have become increasingly strong factors in the regulation of heavily polluting companies, according to the national environmental watchdog.

In the eight months following the introduction of the revised legislation, fines totaling 328 million yuan ($51.7 million) were imposed on companies that illegally discharged pollutants, and 1,116 cases involving polluting companies were transferred to the judicial authorities for further investigation, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said.