China relaxes environmental standards deadline on coronavirus
FILE PHOTO: Smoke is seen from a chimney in Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China January 24, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China will give firms that do not currently meet environmental standards more time to make rectifications because of the coronavirus outbreak, the environment ministry said on Tuesday.
Xu Bijiu, a senior official at China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, made the comments at a press briefing.
He also said firms that are impacted by the coronavirus outbreak would be allowed to postpone their environmental tax payments and that sewage discharge permissions that are scheduled to expire can be extended.
Reporting by Muyu Xu in Beijing and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Christian Schmollinger
