China will launch a six-month-long crackdown action on illegal polluters, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) said in Beijing Wednesday.

Deputy Director Wang Jirong of the administration told a Tuesday press conference here that the action, the second of its kind, will firstly focus on reducing drinking water, air and noise pollution, which generated many complaints in 2003.

Statistics show that environmental complaints have been rising by 20 percent annually in recent years and reached 330,000 cases in 2003.

"This shows that the environmental issues are starting to take tolls on people's daily life, " said Wang.

The second target is to sweep out illegal polluters along the major waterways, such as Huaihe river and Taihu lake, and mega-water transfer programs, such as the Three Gorges Projects. The third is to close heavily-polluting paper, steel, cement and electrolytic aluminum makers, who escaped environmental impact assessments before starting operation.

"The final solution of illegal pollution lies in the restructuring of industries and energy supplies, which means reducing the heavily-polluting industries and reducing the use of low-efficiency energy. Thus it needs the concerted efforts of several government sections," said Gan Zhihe, the vice secretary of the cabinet State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC), an organization responsible for micro-economic control.

Beside SEPA and SDRC, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Supervision, General Administration for Industry and Commerce, and the State Administration of Production Safety will also join the action.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2004)