China's revised Environmental Protection Law went into effect on 1 January this year. Severe punishments for polluting businesses swiftly followed.

Some 292 cases incurred an accumulating daily fine within the first 6 months, totalling 236 million yuan (US$37 million). The highest single levy was 15.8 million yuan (data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection; see www.mep.gov.cn). Over the same period, production was curtailed in 1,092 cases and equipment was locked down in 1,814 instances. Criminal charges were brought against 740 polluting businesses, and 782 were punished with police administrative detention.

Local governments are cooperating with the new law, contrary to earlier misgivings (see B. Zhang and C. Cao Nature 517, 433–434; 2015 and H. Yang et al. Science 347, 834–835; 2015). In Linyi in Shandong province, for example, several dozen businesses (including some responsible for high employment and large tax revenues) have been closed down.