Four Shenzhen companies have so far had applications for bank
loans rejected on the basis of their poor environmental records,
the Shenzhen Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau announced at
a press conference Monday.
They became the first companies to be denied loans on
environmental grounds after the bureau launched a "green credit"
policy which made each company's environmental record a part of its
credit history.
The four companies, which were not named, were found to have
discharged polluted water and toxic waste earlier in the year. They
did not stop doing so even after the bureau imposed penalties on
them.
The enterprises were denied a total of 11.9 million yuan (US$1.6
million) and US$13.5 million in bank loans. They also have to spend
7.31 million yuan upgrading their facilities.
Under the bureau's policy, which is the first of its kind in the
country, companies which violate environmental protection
regulations will be disqualified from getting loans from banks or
financial institutions.
The bureau regularly hands over lists of heavy polluters to the
People's Bank of China Shenzhen branch.
So far the names of 82 violators have been placed on the lists,
the bureau said.
More than 8,000 Chinese companies were penalized for pollution
in the first eight months of this year, the State Environmental
Protection Administration (SEPA) said earlier this month. The SEPA
introduced the policy in July, one month after Shenzhen did.
China used to resort to the traditional mode of administrative
penalties to curb pollution, but now long-term restrictions
designed to affect the way businesses operate are favored over
one-off fines.
(Shenzhen Daily September 19, 2007)