On October 21, 2023, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in China announced that the Central Ecological Environmental Protection Inspection Team held a mobilization meeting in Hefei, Anhui Province, on the afternoon of October 20. This meeting marks the full deployment of all eight inspection teams for the third round of the third batch of inspections.

With approval from the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the State Council, these inspection teams have been dispatched recently to four provinces: Jiangsu, Anhui, Sichuan, and Guizhou. They will conduct inspections on four major state-owned enterprises: China National Petroleum Corporation, Sinopec Limited, China National Chemical Corporation, and China Chemical Engineering Corporation. The aim is to balance economic development, public welfare, and ecological protection. To support this initiative, the Central Ecological Environmental Protection Inspection Work Leading Group has issued a letter to the subjects of inspection. The letter outlines the necessity to firmly implement central decisions, promote rectifications in a precise and lawful manner, and avoid one-size-fits-all approaches and excessive accountability measures.

The letter explicitly prohibits localities and companies from resorting to abrupt shutdowns or simplistic responses like blanket closures when facing inspections. Authorities are urged to adopt targeted, scientific, and lawful methods for pollution control. Rectifications related to ecological and environmental issues should follow legal and regulatory guidelines, and be prioritized based on severity and feasibility, with immediate action taken where possible. It is crucial to allocate adequate time for those directly responsible for making corrections, and to prevent escalating pressure or rapid demands at multiple levels of management. Special care must be taken in industries that impact people’s livelihoods to ensure a methodical and orderly approach, firmly rejecting any blanket policies disguised as environmental protection. The inspection teams have made it clear that any evasive actions that utilize one-size-fits-all tactics will be met with strict consequences, investigating and penalizing each incident.

According to the schedule, the duration of this round of inspections will last for one month. During this period, each inspection team will set up dedicated hotline numbers and postal addresses to receive reports and complaints regarding ecological and environmental protection issues. All members of the inspection teams are required to adhere strictly to disciplinary guidelines and accept oversight from both the subjects of the inspections and the public.