BEIJING (Sputnik) — According to the China Daily newspaper, some 5,600 government officials will be involved in the program, making it the most large-scale environmental protection program.
The ministry also released information of several companies concealing and falsifying data regarding pollutants, the media said, adding that severe violations were exposed in Beijing and Tianjin, as well as in several neighboring provinces.
In March, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said the government would undertake a number of measures to combat air pollution in 2017 and would "make skies blue again," cutting the emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide by 3 percent and lowering the density of PM2.5. The measures include reducing coal use and car emissions, upgrading coal-fired power plants, encouraging the use of clean-energy vehicles and punishing government officials who ignore environmental guidelines or air pollution regulations in their designated areas.
According to a survey conducted by the University of California, a total of 1.6 million people in China die annually from diseases caused by air pollution, which means some 4,000 deaths per day.
