Wen Fei, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) and head of the environmental protection division of Pinggang Anyuan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. Based in the city of Pingxiang, East China’s Jiangxi province, visited the Intermediate People's Court of Pingxiang to research the court's adjudicatory work related to environmental resources on May 15.

Wen spoke highly of the court's dedicated justice team that handles cases on environmental resources. He said that the professional team has achieved high-quality and efficient trials of environmental resources cases, and accurately grasped the goals and tasks of the judicial work for environmental resources in a new era.

Wen learned that after establishing a "three in one" trial mode that integrating civil, administrative and criminal trials the court has tried 39 cases on environmental resources, three of them were civil public interest litigation cases which affected the ecological environment of Jiangxi and Hunan provinces. The defendants of two of these three cases were ordered to pay more than 46 million yuan ($647.13 million) in compensation.

Wen recalled that he was invited by the court to sit in on the trial of these cases, adding that the court's impartial and lawful rulings serve as a powerful deterrence in the protection of the ecological environment.

He pointed out that the court has also actively strengthened its ties with environmental protection and procuratorial organs, and held 12 joint meetings. Meanwhile, it has also combined online and offline modes to publicize information on environmental protection in enterprises and used the information platform to spread the basic concept, realizing full coverage of law popularization on environmental protection.

Wen said he hopes that the court can take the lead in setting up ecological protection demonstration bases in Jiangxi, and explore the establishment of the post of deputy river chief to be responsible for handling related legal matters, which would be beneficial to Pingxiang's development.