空气质量数据造假？受处罚！不纵容！

The officials responsible for deliberately manipulating data collected from nine air quality monitoring stations by using a spray of water have been severely punished, according to the country’s top environmental authority.

环保部环境监测司表示，负责故意操纵九个空气质量监测站采集的数据的官员受到严厉惩罚。

Some of the officials were removed from their posts or demoted, while others were given warnings or demerits on their records, Liu Youbin, spokesman for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said on Thursday.

环保部宣教司巡视员刘友宾表示，具体的处罚形式为，其中一些官员将被迫离职或者被降级，而另一些官员则将被处于警告或者过失记录。

Liu, speaking at a news conference, did not disclose the number of officials who were punished but said the cases happened in seven cities in six provincial regions in December and January.

刘在新闻发布会上发言时没有透露受到处罚的官员人数，但称在12月份和1月份，在六个省区的7个城市有类似案件发生。

In one of the cases, seven people entered a monitoring station in Changde, Hunan province, where two of them sprayed water on air quality monitoring equipment, according to the ministry.

据其中一个案例，七人进入湖南省常德的一个监测站，其中两人在空气质量监测设备上喷洒水。

"The ministry will continue random inspections on environmental monitoring work to ensure monitoring quality is maintained, and will have zero tolerance for any fraudulent collection of environmental monitoring data. Any violations will be thoroughly investigated," he said.

他说:“该部将继续对环境监测工作进行随机检查,以确保监测质量得到保障,并且对任何欺诈性收集的环境监测数据不会容忍,任何违规行为将被彻底调查。”

Liu also said that more than 1,000 officials have been punished for failing to fulfill their environmental protection duties in the second round of a nationwide comprehensive environmental inspection.

刘还表示，在全国范围的第二轮全面环境监察中，有1000多名官员因未能履行环境保护义务而受到处罚。

While 10 of the officials were referred to judicial authorities, the others were publicly named, admonished or given Party disciplinary and administrative punishments.

其中10名官员被转交给司法当局，其他人则被公开指名，受到警告，或受到党纪律和行政处罚。

In addition to three officials at or above vice-ministerial levels, those punished included 159 prefecture-level and 464 county-level officials in either government or Party committee posts from seven provincial regions, including Beijing and Shanghai, Liu said.

刘还强调，除三名副部级以上官员外，其中包括来自北京和上海等七个省区政府或党委职位的159名地级官员和464名县级官员。

He said most officials were punished for dereliction of duty and violating regulations in decision-making and project approval.

他说，大多数官员因渎职和违反决策和项目规定而将受到惩罚。

According to the ministry, about 1,100 officials were held accountable in the first round of environmental inspections carried out in eight provincial regions.

据该部统计，在八个省区进行的第一轮环境检查中，约有1,100名官员被追究责任。

Liu said inspections are expected to cover the whole country in another three years. In addition to the comprehensive inspections, other special random inspections targeting certain types of pollution will also be launched, and a long-term environmental protection mechanism will be established to promote high-quality economic development.

刘说，检查预计将在未来三年覆盖全国范围。 除综合性检查外，还将开展针对某些类型污染的其他专项抽查，建立长效的环境保护机制，促进经济高速发展。

China will mobilize about 600,000 people in a nationwide pollution census that will target 9 million enterprises, said Hong Yaxiong, head of the census office.

普查办公室负责人洪亚雄说，中国将动员大约60万人参加全国范围内的污染普查，这些普查将针对900万企业。

He said the enterprises are classified as polluting based on information provided by government bodies including the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the State Administration of Taxation, and State-owned enterprises such as the State Grid Cooperation of China.

他说，基于国家工商行政管理总局，国家税务总局等政府部门和国家电网公司等国有企业提供的信息，该企业被列为污染行业。

The census team will consist of environmental supervisors, each of whom is now responsible for monitoring a small area, along with university student volunteers, he said.

他说，普查小组将由环境监督员和大学生志愿者组成，他们每个人现在都负责监视一个小区域。

Third-party organizations will participate in the census, contributing their expertise in calculating pollutants to ensure data accuracy, he said.

他说，第三方组织将参与到普查工作中，贡献他们在计算污染物方面的专业知识，以确保数据的准确性。