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Beijing

Watchdog ceases desert monitoring

The national environmental watchdog has stopped direct monitoring of pollution in Tengger Desert after improvements were made, Beijing News reported on Sunday. The Inner Mongolia autonomous region has invested more than 300 million yuan ($47 million) on projects to treat pollution since the Ministry of Environmental Protection began supervising the area in May, the report said. In addition, the Ningxia Hui autonomous region has punished 15 officials who were held accountable for pollution, including criticizing them publicly.