A mining factory in East China painted rocks green to evade environmental protection inspection. Photo: screenshot from Wechat account of iqilu.com

To evade environmental protection inspection, a mining factory in East China's Shandong Province painted rocks it excavated green, media reported on Wednesday.

The Changsheng Rock Material Factory, located near a village in Xintai, Shandong was covered in green, aerial video on Tuesday shows. It turns out that the factory painted the rocks green to make it appear like grass and trees, iqilu.com, Shandong Television's website, said on WeChat.

When asked about why the rocks were painted in green, an accountant at the factory admitted in an undercover interview it was done to evade inspection.

A truck driver at the mining site said factory workers started painting the rocks in 2018 because company officials believed satellite photos would show a green area. 

The factory, which occupies more than 7,000 square meters, posted a notice saying "production discontinued," the report said. But trucks remain busy and machines are still digging a 100 meter-deep hole in the mountain, it said.

The head of the factory claims that the factory had received an environmental evaluation certificate, iqilu.com reported.

However, an employee at the city government denied giving the factory certificate, saying it will be shut down "sooner or later," the report said.

The news website said it will continue to investigate the matter.

Xintai authorities failed to respond to questions from the Global Times.

China has seen similar cases, China Network Television (CNTV) reported.

A big problem is some officials also turned a blind eye to the construction sites and the environmental problems which come with, CNTV said.