Damage to Great Wall draws punishments

Authorities in Ningwu county, Shanxi province, said on Tuesday that administrative penalties have been imposed on a coal company and criminal coercive measures have been taken against relevant individuals over damage to a section of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall.

The main issues involved have basically been ascertained, while investigations are continuing to look into possible dereliction of duty and disciplinary and legal violations by regulatory authorities over the years, the county said in a statement posted on its official WeChat account.

A special rectification campaign was launched on March 18 to investigate damage to the Great Wall, along with improper dumping of mining waste and other related acts, the statement said.

Authorities have carried out emergency stabilization and repair work on damaged sections of the wall and performed ecological restoration in surrounding areas. Manpower, funding and technical support have been increased to enhance long-term protection and management of the wall, it said.

The statement followed an investigative report aired on Monday by CCTV about the damage to the Guojiayao section of the wall in Ningwu. The damage was linked to Shenda Chaokai Coal Industry Co, the report said and was the result of long-standing regulatory shortcomings. The Guojiayao section is under provincial-level cultural relic protection.

A man-made road cut through the wall at the site, leaving a gap of about 6 meters, CCTV reported. One side of the breach adjoins the mining company's working area, while the other is next to its spoil dump. The breach was used to shorten the route for transporting and dumping waste and reducing operating costs, the report said.

Satellite imagery showed that a man-made breach had already appeared by September 2007. Mining was then being carried out by an entity known as Ningwu Chaokai Coal Industry, which had no business registration or mining permit before 2013, it said.

In 2013, Shenda Chaokai was established and continued to use and enlarge the breach for transporting and dumping mining waste, CCTV reported.

Between 2015 and 2025, insiders complained to local authorities. In March this year, after higher-level authorities had launched an investigation, Ningwu's culture and tourism authorities began imposing administrative penalties on the company, the report said.