Aerial photo shows the Yangshan Deep Water Port of east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

Shanghai released an exemption list for minor ecological violations recently, as a part of the city's effort to improve the business environment, the authorities announced on Thursday.

Enterprises that can promptly rectify the minor violations that cause no serious impact will be exempted from administrative penalties, according to the list.

Wu Qizhou, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology stressed at a press conference held on Thursday that the list doesn't mean the city is taking loosening measures against environment protection, but measures to improve flexibility and ensure fairness in law enforcement, optimize the business environment, and encourage enterprises to abide by the law.

Environmental violations that do not meet the conditions for exemption will still be severely punished, Wu noted.

Eleven types of minor violations, including those related to environmental impact assessment, air, solid waste and noise pollution, are covered by the list which was jointly issued by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment and the Shanghai Bureau of Justice.

For instance, a construction unit that failed to complete the environmental impact registration form on its project in accordance with the law and as a first offender, can be exempted from punishment if it completes the registration after a reminder.

The city's environment watchdog issued 15,858 administrative penalties in the past five years, amounting to 1.77 billion yuan ($249.5 million) in fines.

This is the third exemption list that Shanghai has introduced, in a bid to support enterprises and improve the business environment. It introduced the first impunity list for minor violations in business operation in March 2019, and then a list for minor violations in the cultural market in February 2020 to tide enterprises through the difficult time of COVID-19.