Over 4,000 officials held accountable for environmental damage

BEIJING - China has held 4,305 officials in ten provincial-level regions accountable for environmental damage after inspections by central authorities from May 30 to June 7, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said Monday.

A total of 464 people have been detained and 510.62 million yuan ($77.2 million) of fines imposed following the environmental inspections, the ministry said in a statement.

The inspected regions included Jiangsu, Heilongjiang, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Henan, and Guangdong.

The ministry criticized a number of local governments for problems including inadequate attention to environmental protection and inefficient implementation of environmental protection measures.

The inspections are part of China's campaign to fight pollution and environmental degradation as decades of growth have left the country with smog, polluted water, and contaminated soil.

Tackling pollution has been listed as one of "the three tough battles" that China aims to win in the next three years.