90 MNC's listed as major industrial polluters in China

BEIJING: Ninety multinational companies, including Pepsi, 3M, Yamaha, KFC and Pizza Hut, have been named as major industrial polluters by a Chinese non-government organisation.

Half of these international companies are located in Shanghai, China's largest industrial city and financial hub, and the others are operating in 18 other Chinese provinces and municipalities, the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs said.

Some of these firms have even become major polluters in their host cities.

For instance, a Carlsberg beer brewery was shut down by the city government of Tianshui, in northwest China's Gansu Province, for its severe pollution of local rivers.

About 30 of these blacklisted international companies have responded to the issue, but only seven of them said they accept check by a third party, director of the institute, Ma Jun said.

"Many of these multinational companies have strict environmental standards in their home countries, but they lowered the standards after launching branches or joint ventures in China," Ma claimed.

Ma urged the companies to follow their promise on environmental protection and abide by relevant laws and regulations in China.

On the list are only foreign companies involved in water pollution and whose violation of environmental regulations has been made public by the environmental protection department.

The number could swell when foreign companies or joint ventures responsible for air pollution and solid waste pollution, another official of the institute said.