China stresses harsh punishment on natural resources-related illegal activities

China has vowed to intensify punishment on illegal activities undermining the country's efforts to protect natural resources.

The Ministry of Natural Resources will distribute satellite remote sensing data of land resources to local governments every quarter as the basis for supervision and law enforcement, the ministry said in a notice on Feb 26.

The notice demanded provincial natural resources authorities to start setting up blacklists of illegal activities on natural resources and strengthen punishment.

Efforts will focus on the condition and changing status of nature reserves, ecologically sensitive areas along the Yellow River and Yangtze River, permanent basic farmland and important minerals to find whether their land status is consistent with those on the satellite images, according to the notice.