China's ministries of public security and environmental protection have vowed to cooperate closer when dealing with environmental crimes and punishing wrongdoers.

A document on coordinating environmental protection and law enforcement efforts was drafted by the two ministries and made public on December 3.

According to the document, environmental protection departments should make greater efforts to uncover environmental violations, strengthen the monitoring of waste-producing companies and impose administrative punishments on violators.

Meanwhile, police departments were urged to investigate environmental pollution cases that are severe enough to be considered crimes.

The document recommends regular meetings of departments in the two fields to share information and brief each other on their progress, urging the two sides to follow a clear division of work in the management of cases.

Underwater Project

Chinese archaeologists have begun full examination of the Nanhai-1, the wreck of an ancient Chinese merchant ship currently preserved in a giant tank of water.

The project is expected to last three to four years, according to the Marine Silk Road Museum in Yangjiang, a city in south China's Guangdong Province.

The Nanhai-1 dates back to the Southern Song Dynasty in the 13th century. It was raised from the bed of the South China Sea at the end of 2007, along with much of its cargo.

Archaeologists will work at the museum, entering into the tank designed to house the ship which is approximately 30 meters in length.

Archaeologists estimate there are about 60,000 to 80,000 antiques among the wreckage, most of them porcelain, precious metal objects and coins.

Over 6,000 pieces of porcelain, copper and other treasure were salvaged in two trial excavations in 2009 and 2011.

Eco-friendly Rankings

An evaluation report on the environmental responsibility of 617 companies listed on China's yuan-denominated A-share market was released in Beijing on November 29.

Released by a project team from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, it ranks the companies' environmental performance alongside their environmental statements, corporate social responsibility reports and sustainability reports.

According to the report, 426 companies from primary industries and secondary industries did better than 191 tertiary industry businesses in 2012, in terms of having a low ecological impact.

Initiated by the China Forum of Environmental Journalists and the China Youth Center for International Exchange in 2011, the evaluation campaign covered more than 2,000 A-share listed companies.

Netizen Population

The number of Internet users in China hit 604 million at the end of September, with mobile phones becoming the favored means of accessing the Internet, according to a State Internet Information Office announcement on November 28.

About 464 million people, 77 percent of the country's total netizens, regularly accessed the Internet with their phones as of the end of June, according to the office's vice minister, Ren Xianliang.

Mobile phones' overtaking computers as the most common means of accessing the Internet signals that China has entered a mobile Internet era, according to Ren.

The office's statistics also show that all China's cities and 99 percent of its townships have been connected to the Internet.

The Internet has provided new channels for interaction between the government and the public and has become an incubator for China's booming electronic businesses, Ren added.