Polluters to pay price 'too high to bear': Premier Li   

李克強：要向霧霾等污染宣戰 不達目的決不停戰

赫芬頓郵報記者：總理，您好。柴靜的《穹頂之下》說中石化、中石油這兩個央企一直在妨礙環保政策的制定和執行，尤其是在汽油質量標準的確定和天然氣的推行。我的問題就是，您認為這兩個央企真的在阻礙環保政策的落實嗎？如果這樣的話，中央政府會怎么沖破這種阻力？[查看全文]

Polluters will pay a price "too high to bear" for illegal emission, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang warned Sunday. [Special coverage]

All businesses involved in illegal production and emission, no matter what kind of business they are, will be brought to justice and held accountable, Li told a press conference after the annual national legislative session concluded.

He made the remarks in response to a question on whether two Chinese oil giants, Sinopec and PetroChina, have obstructed the implementation of environment policies in the country.

"We need to make the cost for doing so too high to bear," the premier said.

This year the Chinese government will focus on fully implementing the newly-revised Environmental Protection Law, he said.

More supports will be given to environmental law enforcement departments including capacity building, he said. "No one should use his power to meddle with law enforcement in this regard," he said.

However, the premier stressed that the law enforcement departments should also have the courage to take charge and fulfill their duty while nonfeasance will be held accountable and abuse of power and breach of duty will be punished.

The law must work as a powerful, effective tool to control pollution instead of being "as soft as cotton candy," he said.