China's environment watchdog to exit from evaluation services

BEIJING - The Ministry of Environmental Protection has called for its affiliated organizations to cease commercial environmental evaluation services by the end of 2016.

Eight organizations directly under the ministry are required to break away from providing such services for construction projects by the end of the year, according to a statement from the ministry on Wednesday.

Organizations under western China's provincial environmental authorities and those affiliated with all levels of authorities in the east and central parts are asked to pull out of the evaluation market by June 2016.

The deadline for western municipal and county authorities is the end of 2016 due to the low number of evaluation services in that part of the country.

Cheng Lifeng, head of the ministry's department of evaluation of environmental impact, said the plan was aimed at avoiding corruption and conflict of interest in environmental evaluation and ensuring a healthy development of the sector.

In addition, the statement said employees of the organizations affiliated with the ministry are not allowed to be involved in evaluation services for construction projects.