12 Arrested in Hebei for Fabricating Emission Data 环保在线监测数据造假 刑拘

12 Arrested in Hebei for Fabricating Emission Data

Authorities in Hebei province have arrested at least 12 people from three local companies for falsifying environmental data, which helped keep their reported air pollution in check.

In a notice Friday, the environmental protection bureau in the city of Tangshan said the local Jinma Steel Group had collaborated with a third-party environmental standard monitoring company to fabricate production records and evade emission-cutting measures. Employees at Xiao Tian Environmental Protection — the third-party company — were found to have destroyed monitoring devices and networks to help the steel maker create “severely distorted” environmental data.

The fabrications dated from early March, when the city reported a severe deterioration in air quality, according to the notice.

To achieve its clean air goals, China has been stepping up measures at the local and national level to punish polluters and demand environmental accountability from companies. Authorities have been swift in shutting down violators and imposing heavy fines on rule-breakers, as well as ensuring the authenticity of environmental data, following lapses over the years.

With an annual production of 144 million tons of crude steel, Tangshan is China’s top steel-making center and also has some of the lowest air quality in the country. In early March, Tangshan launched a monthlong emission reduction campaign to remove itself from the country’s top 10 list of heavily polluted cities by the end of the year.

On Thursday, authorities also called out two other plants — Tangshan Songting Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. and Tangshan Medium Thick Plate Co. Ltd. — for fabricating environmental data, adding that an unspecified number of people were arrested.

In the wake of the arrests, the province’s department of ecology and environment said the fraudulent records have “fully exposed the problems and shortcomings” of Hebei’s monitoring of polluting enterprises. The provincial authority has ordered investigators to check two other monitoring service providers — including market leader Focused Photonics Inc. — that had worked with the offenders.

河北唐山查破一起企业污染环境犯罪案件：

环保在线监测数据造假 12人被刑拘

涉案人员刑拘，市值蒸发14亿

这是一个非常惨痛的教训。

只因“涉嫌配合数据造假”，这家环境监测企业就受到了前所未有的严厉处罚。

3月25日晚间，聚光科技(杭州)股份有限公司（下称“聚光科技”）发布一则公告，针对公司涉及在线监测数据造假的新闻报道做出了回应。

公告的大致意思是，对于在线监测运维业务，公司有相关的管理制度。个别运维人员违反公司规定，涉嫌配合数据造假。公司未参与数据造假事件，也没有因此受到行政或刑事处罚。

3月26日早间，针对员工涉嫌监测数据造假一事，聚光科技又披露补充公告，强调造假事件“系个别运维人员的个人行为”，公司及董监高、控股股东等均未参与其中。

聚光科技所说的新闻报道，是3月25日早些时候，河北省生态环境厅发布的一则公告。

3月25日上午，河北省生态环境厅发布《关于聚光科技（杭州）有限公司等服务机构在线监测数据造假有关情况的通报》（下称《通报》），其中显示，环境部检查唐山市重污染天气应急减排落实情况时发现，聚光科技(杭州)股份有限公司、唐山晓天环保科技有限公司（下称“晓天环保”）、唐山市绿创节能环保设备有限公司（下称“绿创节能”）伙同排污企业进行在线监测数据造假。

三起案件中，绿创节能的问题最严重，因为运维人员直接修改了在线监测数据；晓天环保其次，是让在线监测数据显示为“停产”状态；聚光科技相对来说最轻，用他们自己的话说，就是“涉嫌配合数据造假”。

不过，即便如此，聚光科技的相关涉案人员也已以“涉嫌污染环境罪”刑事拘留。

除了相关涉案人员刑事拘留，3家企业还将面临其他方面的惩罚，如列入不良记录、禁止参与政府购买或委托服务、暂停验收和联网等。

更加不走运的是，由于聚光科技属于上市公司，所以河北省生态环境厅的《通报》发出之后，迅速在资本市场引发连锁反应，当天就引发了股价大跌。

截至3月25日收盘，聚光科技股价大跌20%，报收12.6元/股，市值较前一日蒸发近14亿元。

只是因为“涉嫌配合数据造假”，就导致涉案人员刑拘、市值蒸发14亿、在手和未来项目订单大受影响等一系列重大损失，这次教训对于聚光科技来说不可谓不惨痛，也值得所有环境监测业同行引以为戒、引起重视。

Iran and China sign huge 25-year strategic deal

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday signed a 25-year agreement in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif to enhance comprehensive cooperation between the countries.

Under the new deal, the two sides will tap the potentials in economic and cultural cooperation and make plans for long-term cooperation, said Wang, adding that he believes this will promote the continuous upgrading of the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership so as to better benefit the two peoples.

Zarif said that the signing of the comprehensive cooperation plan will inject new impetus into further strengthening their mutually beneficial cooperation.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and his Iran’s counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif exchange documents after signing an agreement

The agreement covers a variety of economic activity from oil and mining to promoting industrial activity in Iran, as well as transportation and agricultural collaborations, Iranian TV reported.

The deal, which had been discussed since 2016, also supports tourism and cultural exchanges. It comes on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Iran.

On the Iranian nuclear issue, the Iranian top diplomat stressed that the United States, instead of making unreasonable demands on Iran, should take the first step, lift unilateral sanctions against Iran, and return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Calling China as a reliable partner on this matter, Zarif said Iran is willing to work closely with China to push the JCPOA back on track.

Wang said that the current situation of the Iranian nuclear issue was caused by the unilateral withdrawal from the pact by the United States.

He urged the United States to lift its illegitimate sanctions against Iran, cancel its measures of long-arm jurisdiction over third parties, and resume the implementation of the JCPOA comprehensively and unconditionally.

The relevant parties should lay the ground for restoring the JCPOA through formulating a roadmap with synchronization and reciprocity, and seeking early results, said the Chinese diplomat, adding that China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in this regard.

中国与伊朗25年战略协议

中国和伊朗昨天在官方电视台直播的仪式上签署一项为期25年的战略合作协议，在两国同时受美国施压之际，协议有望扩充“一带一路”倡议的规模。

周五抵达伊朗访问的中国国务委员兼外长王毅，昨天与伊朗外长扎里夫在德黑兰签署了这份协议。

王毅对当地媒体说：“两国之间的关系现已达到战略伙伴水平，中国寻求全面提升与伊朗的关系。”

他指出，中伊关系是“永久和战略性的”，不受时局影响。“伊朗自主决定与其他国家的关系，不像某些国家，接到一个电话就改变立场。”

细节尚未公布的中伊合作协议相信是“一带一路”倡议中的一部分。伊朗外交部发言人哈蒂布扎德昨天透露：“这份文件是完整的路线图，包含了贸易、经济和运输合作在内的战略政治和经济条款。”

Booster shots may be needed after trials

Sinopharm will need to assess results from overseas phase-3 clinical trials to decide whether its two-shot COVID-19 vaccine should be followed by a booster shot, a company executive said on Sunday.

Regulators and vaccine developers are looking at whether booster doses are necessary amid concerns that new variants of the coronavirus might weaken protection of vaccines designed against older strains.

“The preliminary results so far showed that the booster vaccination can effectively increase the neutralizing antibody titer and antibody persistence, and also effectively improve the vaccine’s ability to resist mutations,” Zhang Yuntao, vice president at China National Biotec Group, an affiliate of Sinopharm, said on Sunday.

“Is a booster shot needed? When will the booster be given? The answer should be based on the results of future phase-3 clinical studies,” Zhang said.

People lined up to get a COVID-19 vaccination in Tianjin

Antibodies triggered by two COVID-19 vaccine products from Sinopharm both have “pretty good” neutralizing effect on variants found in Britain and South Africa as well as a few others, Zhang said, citing results from lab tests using blood samples taken from clinical trial participants.

Lab testing was ongoing for variants found in Brazil and Zimbabwe, Zhang said.

The effect of antibodies induced by Sinovac Biotech’s vaccine declined against a variant identified in South Africa, while the effect against a variant found in Britain remained similar to that against the older variant in Wuhan, Gao Qiang, general manager at Sinovac unit Sinovac Life Sciences, said.

Sinovac is importing the variant from Brazil for vaccine research and development, and work tailored to the South Africa variant had started, Gao said.

我国已设计新冠疫苗加强针

国药集团中国生物副总裁张云涛介绍，我国已设计新冠疫苗加强针。从初步得到的结果看，加强针可有效提升抗体的持久性、提高疫苗抗变异的能力。是不是需要接种加强针，还要根据未来三期临床研究结果来判断。

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