China has issued more than 20,000 permits for pollutant emissions

Beijing. February 21. Silkroadnews - Chinese authorities have issued more than 20,000 permits for pollutant emissions by the end of 2017, China Daily reported.
Permits were provided to companies across the country in 15 sectors, including production of steel, iron and cement, the Ministry of Environmental Protection that began to reform the permits system in 2016 said in a statement.
“If a company is caught discharging pollutants without a permit, it could be required to suspend production or shut down, and faces a fine of up to one million yuan (157,000 US dollars), according to a policy document which was published earlier,” the report reads.
Companies guilty of other violations, including excessive emissions and falsifying monitoring data will also be subject to closure or heavy fines.
The Ministry will continue to improve the legal standards and technological system of the emission permit system and formulate norms and standards for emission permits for other major industries.