Inspections find 70% of firms violated environmental rules

BEIJING -?A total of 13,785 companies, or 70.6 percent of those examined, violated environmental standards during the latest round of air pollution inspections, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said in a statement.

The findings came after two months of inspections across 28 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and other nearby areas, which resulted in the discovery of problems including excessive emissions and insufficient pollution control equipment.

The inspections exposed 4,703 companies with unauthorized locations, lacking relevant certificates, and failing to meet emission standards.

The teams found more than 2,000 such companies in various industries including wood processing and furniture production.

The teams should urge local governments to further investigate the firms and rectify the problems, the MEP said.

China's central government is fighting pollution and environmental degradation as decades of growth have left the country saddled with smog and contaminated soil.

The inspection teams have been conducting on-site checks in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and nearby areas, where smog has raised widespread concerns.