On Friday, a senior environment ministry official revealed that China will be expanding its environmental inspections to include more government-owned enterprises next year as part of its five-year anti-pollution campaign.
According to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment's central inspection team head Liu Changgen, the checks will include a variety of industries with high levels of emissions and energy intensity, which include oil refining and chemical production.
Inspectors would also ensure government departments are implementing anti-pollution measures.
In a media briefing, Liu said "we will have thorough inspections and extend the checks to cabinet departments and state-owned companies" and they will also be using satellite images and big data analysis to detect pollution.
On Monday, the ministry said that it will be adopting efficient and targetted anti-pollution measures as part of the response of the government after a meeting of top leaders that raised the concerns from downward pressure.
The ministry also reaffirmed that it will not be relaxing on its crackdown on pollution despite the shift in local authority ruling and removal of blanket production cuts, stressing that the higher emissions due to winter heating, unfavorable weather conditions and a sandstorm has been the reason why northern China continues to have problems in air quality for this quarter.
