'Gov't officials should be held responsible for   

A senior environmental official has called on the legislature to amend its 17-year-old environmental law in order to make government officials accountable for pollution.

"The government's refusal or failure to fulfil its environmental responsibilities has seriously set back China's environmental protection efforts," said Pan Yue, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).

Local government officials often avoid punishment for actions that result in serious pollution because the existing law on environmental protection primarily targets the behaviour of private citizens and organizations. The law's ability to restrict government behavior is limited.

"With insufficient laws, the government's responsibility for environmental protection has become a mere scrap of paper," Pan said ahead of the "two sessions", the annual meetings of China's top legislature and top political advisory body.