Chinese enterprises which violate environmental protection rules will find it hard to secure bank loans, according to the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).

Zhang Lijun, vice director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), said that SEPA would blacklist companies that violate environmental laws and include them on a database which will be submitted to the People's Bank of China from April, 1.

Zhang said that he hoped the cooperation between SEPA and the People's Bank would force enterprises to be more self-disciplined in environmental protection and to control their pollutant discharge.

The SEPA dispatched 1.67 million environmental protection supervisors to inspect more than 720,000 enterprises nationwide in 2006, identified 28,000 violations and shut down 3,176 enterprises. The findings have been included on the SEPA database.

(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2007)