A total of 838 individuals have been punished for corruption related to environmental issues from 2015 to September 2016, according to a Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) announcement Friday.
Another 1,124 officials have been punished for dereliction of duty concerning environmental protection, Wang Songmiao, SPP spokesperson, said during a press conference Friday.
The procuratorate improved its handling of environment-related cases, Wang said, after the SPP began a pilot project allowing public interest litigation in some areas.
As of September 2016, procuratorates have found a total of 2,221 pieces of evidence concerning public interest litigation cases in environmental protection.
