China Waging ‘Unprecedented’ Pollution Crackdown

Large state-owned businesses, local governments and thousands of small private enterprises have been implicated in an unusually public pollution crackdown in China in recent months.

What started with inspections in the Hebei region around heavily polluted Beijing—and where 176,000 small businesses could be forced to close by the end of September—was extended to all four major municipalities and 10 provinces as of Aug. 2.

“This is unprecedented for the central government to go this far,” Ma Jun, director of the Institute for Public & Environmental Affairs, told Bloomberg BNA, pointing to inspection reports being publicly released. “Basically what ...