China arrested 15,095 people for environmental crimes in 2018, up 51.5 percent from a year earlier, the country’s top prosecuting body said as it worked to improve compliance among local governments and enterprises. China has been trying to make better use of its police and judicial authorities to redress the damage done to its air, soil and water by four decades of breakneck economic growth. In 2018, authorities also prosecuted 42,195 people for a range of environmental offences such as illegal deforestation and land occupation, as well as unlawful mining and fishing activities, said Zhang Zhijie, a senior prosecutor with China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate. President Xi Jinping vowed last year to use the full weight of the state to resolve longstanding environmental problems. Beijing has encouraged courts and police departments to establish dedicated environmental divisions, and other regulatory bodies are also under pressure to play a bigger role in punishing polluters.

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