North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region launched a judicial center to protect environmental resources recently, according to local officials.

They said that the Qingcheng Environmental Resources Judicial Protection Base – the first one of its kind jointly established and built by the judicial and procuratorial offices in the Yellow River Basin of Inner Mongolia autonomous region – had its nameplate unveiling ceremony on June 3 in Togtoh county in the capital of Hohhot.

Officials said the courts and procuratorates of Hohhot are aiming to make the center a comprehensive services platform that integrates judicial protection of the environment, legal education about environmental affairs and promotions of environmental concepts and culture.

They said it is an effort being made by Hohhot to seek practical and diverse governance of environmental resources protection.

The establishment of the base is seen as being conducive to increasing the punishment of crimes that damage the environment and ecology, and urging perpetrators to reverse their damage through restoration of the environment. 

It is also seen as helping to effectively connect environmental resource administrative law enforcement with inspections and environmental resource trial work.

The primary and intermediate people's courts of Hohhot will further strengthen the trial of cases related to ecological and environmental resources, increase the punishment for civil acts that destroy ecological and environmental resources, and severely crack down on crimes against environmental resources.

Officials said the procuratorial office of Hohhot will strengthen the handling of ecological protection cases in the Yellow River Basin, focusing on cracking down on illegal and criminal acts that pollute the water resources and destroy the ecological environment of the river basin, and strengthen environmental public interest litigation. 

It will also set up a hotline to accept reports and complaints from the public about river basin ecological and environmental behavior.