Time to cooperate

Zhao said he has found companies and governments increasingly open to NGOs such as his.

For example, the NGO and Longmen Steel Co Ltd in Hancheng had been in opposition to each other for years. Since 2016, Airman had reported company violations to the central environmental inspection body and the local environmental authority several times, he said.

However, in April the company invited the NGO to visit its plant. A group consisting of Airman volunteers and representatives of other NGOs Airman had invited inspected the company's entire production process, he said.

"Following our consistent concerns about this company for over seven years, it finally opened its doors to us. I think this is a significant milestone," he said. "Instead of confronting each other, we sought to build dialogue."

After the visit, the local environmental bureau invited Airman to participate in a symposium, hoping the NGO would help build a green development model for a Longmen Steel industrial park.

Hancheng city officials, executives of the industrial park, company representatives, and grassroots officials took part in the symposium.

"We took the opportunity provided by the symposium to reach a consensus to build up a governance mode that features multiple parties," Zhao said.

"Previously, our attention was mainly focused on individual violations scattered across different areas. We found violations and then reported them to authorities."

He said the NGO now focuses on a key region and strives to address the problem "to the best of our capability".

"We seek to connect different resources and establish a joint environmental governance mode," he said.