Officials in Harbin area punished over burning of stalks

Seventy officials have been punished for poor performance in environmental protection in Wuchang, a city under the jurisdiction of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, the city's commission for discipline inspection and its supervisory commission announced in an online statement on Monday.

The officials failed to implement a directive from the provincial government to ban the burning of crop stalks starting in September, the statement said.

Five officials received punishments including verbal admonishments, warnings and serious warnings.