China's biggest polluting public companies named and shamed by green groups

Mainland environmental groups have named and shamed big publicly listed polluters, accusing more than 200 Shanghai or Hong Kong-listed firms of worsening the country's smog crisis with unchecked emissions exceeding national standards.

Using pollution data published by government agencies, the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) for the first time compiled an extensive database of public companies' environmental practices, finding that 1,069 of the firms, or more than 40 per cent of those on the mainland, had recorded violations.

The biggest environmental offenders were firms involved in the power, cement, non-ferrous metal smelting, iron and steel, and chemical sectors, the group found.

The group found that 34 out of 36 listed iron and steel companies on the mainland had environmental violation records. And nearly 80 per cent of the mainland's listed power companies also had a record of breaches.

The group tracked more than 200 companies - many of them large state-owned firms - in the biggest smog-related sectors over 92 days between August and October, and found widespread environmental violations by their local branches and subsidiaries.

In Beijing yesterday, the institute and two local green groups from Hunan and Jiangsu provinces singled out a number of listed companies for repeated violations. These companies included top state enterprises Sinochem International Corp and Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chinalco).