Environment ministry targets fake air quality data

Boy adjusts his toy aircraft in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, Aug 28, 2014. [Photo/CFP]

NANJING - An environment official on Wednesday slammed local governments which manipulate air quality data to meet national standards, as the environmental watchdog launched a supervision campaign to crack down on such practices.

Some local governments make monitoring stations fabricate or tamper with air quality data, said Wu Xiaoqing, vice minister of environmental protection, at a conference in Wuxi city in east China's Jiangsu province.

He said that such acts severely compromise the credibility of the governments and environmental protection agencies and harm environmental monitoring efforts.

The ministry will launch a two-year inspection campaign to root out fake air quality data, as "guaranteeing the truthfulness of the data is the bottom line," according to Wu.

The ministry will target both fake data and those who should be held accountable for it. Wu said monitoring stations directly affiliated to the ministry would help cross check data from other stations.

This is the latest move by the ministry to push governments to be more responsible in improving environmental quality. It recently called in dozens of mayors and criticized them for a lack of response in air quality control.