70% of Chinese Firms Break Pollution Laws

An inspection of companies based around Beijing found more than 70% were violating air pollution regulations, Chinese state media says. Firms pumped out more emissions than allowed, operated without licenses or had insufficient pollution control equipment, Xinhua reported. Checks were carried out at thousands of companies in 28 cities across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, BBC News reported. Chinese cities are notorious for their air pollution. The findings appear to confirm suspicions that companies ignore strict environmental protection policies that officials do not enforce, correspondents say. Inspections found more than 13,000 companies had failed to meet environmental standards, China's Ministry of Environmental Protection said in a statement. The ministry ordered local officials to investigate the firms and rectify the problems, the statement said. China's government is under pressure to do more to address the sources of smog, including reducing reliance on coal-fired power plants, the country's primary source of electricity.