Local employees are throwing chemicals into the Weitan River in order to tackle the pollution in Weifang, East China's Shandong Province. Photo: courtesy of Ministry of Ecology and Environmental (MEE)

China has introduced the first intra-Party regulation on ecological and environmental protection, demonstrating the firm will and strong determination of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council to promote ecological civilization construction and strengthen ecological and environmental protection. 

The regulation on the central inspection work of ecological and environmental protection was jointly issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council. 

It was released prior to the three-year second round of inspections on ecological and environmental protection, which will start this year. 

The regulation calls for the construction of inspection teams, inspection targets, procedure and discipline. 

The central inspection work of ecological and environmental protection is a political task and responsibility, and the regulation prioritizes political construction in ecological protection, Zhai Qing, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), said at a press conference on the regulation on Thursday. 

During the inspection, central inspection teams will form a temporary Party branch in order to strictly implement the requirements in exercising full and strict governance over the Party, Zhai said. The inspection work includes regular and special inspections, as well as "review" inspections.

The second round of inspections will extend to relevant departments under the State Council and state-owned enterprises. 

The inspection of state-owned enterprises will highlight their responsibility in preventing pollution and implementation of a new development concept and high-quality development, and inspections of departments will focus on whether the policy-making process takes into consideration both economic development and ecological protection, according to Zhai. 

The first round of inspections that started in 2015 and covered 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions have seen more than 2,264 people detained and 2,303 cases being investigated.