The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) inaugurated Wednesday an environmental protection monitoring center in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province in northwest China.

The center will supervise the implementation of China's environmental protection laws in Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang, said SEPA vice head Zhang Lijun.

The official said the center will also be responsible for investigating serious pollution and ecological deterioration cases in the area and for overseeing the local government's responses and measures when emergency environmental problems occur.

Zhang said the SEPA plans to establish two other monitoring centers in southwest and northeast China.

With the existing east and south China centers, China now has a relatively complete environmental protection monitoring network, the official said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2006)