A special inspection by the central government from Feb 12 to March 3 found that Qilian Mountain National Nature Reserve in Gansu province had failed to resolve its long-existing pollution problems and environmental degradation despite being ordered to rectify the problems. Mining and exploitation activities inside the reserve destroyed the vegetation cover and eroded the soil and 14 mines were still working even after the central government banned the practice in the nature reserve in 2014.

The inspection team also found illegal constructions and excessive emissions by local enterprises, according to a document jointly released by the general offices of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's Cabinet, on Thursday.

The severe pollution and environmental degradation in the nature reserve were mainly the result of the poor environmental protection performance of the provincial, city and county governments and their failure to make every effort to implement the instructions of the central government.