Local officials scolded for ignoring factors causing ecological damage

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment summoned top officials from two cities and a county to Beijing on Monday and exhorted them to take action to rectify environmental pollution in their jurisdictions.

On Monday, the ministry said it had discovered that the governments of Shizhu Tujia autonomous county in Chongqing, Yulin in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Yichun in Jiangxi province had failed to correct problems found during inspections by central government teams.

The Shizhu government had not halted construction encroaching on its Shuimoxi Wetland Nature Reserve along a major tributary of the Yangtze River, the ministry said.