China deploys five teams for latest batch of environmental inspections

Five central ecological and environmental protection inspection teams have completed their deployment for the seventh batch of the third round of inspections, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Thursday.

The latest batch includes two regular inspection teams assigned to inspect government ministries and three special inspection teams focusing on pollution in caves, sinkholes and valleys.

The two regular teams will conduct one-month inspections of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

A special team will carry out inspections in Hubei, Hunan and Guangxi, with a second team operating in Chongqing and Sichuan, and the third based in Guizhou and Yunnan.

Their inspections are expected to last about two weeks.

The ministry said the inspections aim to strengthen environmental protection accountability, accelerate the country's green transformation, substantially improve environmental quality and achieve major progress in building a Beautiful China.

Central ecological and environmental protection inspections are a major institutional arrangement introduced in 2015 to advance ecological civilization.

Multiple batches of inspections have strengthened accountability for local environmental protection and helped address long-standing problems in different regions.

The current third round of inspections was launched in November 2023.

China's landmark Ecological and Environmental Code officially came into force on August 15, strengthening the legal foundation for ecological protection.

Adopted by China's top legislature in March, the code is China's second formal statutory code after the Civil Code.

The code comprises 1,242 articles in five chapters, covering pollution control, ecological protection, and green and low-carbon development, among other areas.

The code also includes provisions on central ecological and environmental protection inspections.