Shanghai takes aim at polluters and regulators

Environmental protection is about to be included as a metric for assessing district governors in Shanghai. Anyone whose neglect of duty leads to severe consequences must accept blame and resign.

It is one of the latest measures in the city's newly amended environmental protection regulation, which takes effect on Oct 1. It demonstrates the government's resolve to provide maximum protection to the environment, said Chen Yin, deputy-mayor of Shanghai, as the regulations were released at a news conference on Wednesday.

"Any district governor who covers up for environmental violations, who allows an enterprise to falsify monitoring data or who doesn't suspend or shut down an enterprise when that should be done will be required to step down if any severe consequence occurs related to their misconduct," Chen said.