Reuters
October 9, 2006

Beijing: China should slap daily fines on firms that pump untreated waste into lakes and rivers, because current penalty limits make long-term pollution profitable, an official was quoted on Saturday as saying. Normally, fines for pollution are capped at 200,000 yuan (US$25,300) regardless of how long a factory ignores pollution regulations, the official China Daily said. … A daily charge would give companies an economic incentive to clean up their waste, the paper quoted Mao Rubai, chairman of the Environmental and Resources Protection Committee of China’s parliament, as saying. “The punishment should be calculated from the day that a factory is found guilty of pollution discharge until the day its emissions meet environmental protection requirements,” Mao said. … Read the full story [PDF].