Beijing polluters fined 183 mn yuan in 2015

Beijing's environmental watchdog meted out fines totalling 183 million yuan ($27.9 million) during 2015 for violation of pollution laws, the media reported on Friday.

Amid an intensified campaign to limit the Chinese capital's notorious smog, the punishment included 44 million yuan for 1,937 air pollution cases and 72 million yuan for 181 violations in water and other areas, said the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau on Thursday.

It strengthened law enforcement in the printing, furniture, petrochemical, spray-painting and quarry industries as well as vehicle exhaust emissions in 2015, China Radio International reported.

Beijing has put nearly 20,000 pollution sources in key industries under strict supervision with files for each of them, said the bureau.

It will continue monthly joint law enforcement campaigns this year.

The country's new air pollution law, which took effect on January 1, allows government regulators to levy higher fines on offenders.

Beijing has seen a lot of smog this winter, prompting the city government to issue two red alerts.

Its average PM2.5 density from November 15 to December 31, 2015, rose 75.9 percent year-on-year, despite an overall improvement in air quality throughout 2015, according to official monitoring.