According to Beijing Times, Heilongjiang Environment Department invited over a dozen media representatives to join its 2009 environment management conference, but it refused to reveal the information about polluters to the journalists.
It is learned that the Department provided a number of vague titles on environment issues, such as "companies with hidden environmental problems", "companies involving in excessive emissions" and "companies asked to stop production for environmental inspection", it has not disclosed details of the companies involved.
A representative from the Department said they did not reveal the company data to the media as it was confidential. But media reports suggest that the department is trying to protect the companies involved.
