The environmental damage compensation mechanism China introduced in 2015 has played a remarkable role in restoring damaged environments, an official with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said.

By the end of last year, Chinese authorities had handled some 11,300 compensation cases, Bie Tao, director of the ministry's Department of Law, Regulation and Standards, told a news conference on Sept 28.

In total, almost 11.7 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in compensation has been paid, he added.

As a result, considerable expanses of contaminated soil, surface, and underground water, as well as damaged forests, farmlands, and wetlands have been treated and a large amount of illegally dumped solid waste has been cleared.

For example, almost 37 million cubic meters of soil has been treated as a result of the payments and roughly 61.6 million square meters of forest have been restored, Bie said.

Authorities launched a pilot version of the compensation mechanism in 2015 in seven provincial regions. According to a document released by central authorities in 2017, China aimed to establish a comprehensive, efficient damage compensation system to protect and improve the ecosystem by 2020.

The system was expanded to cover all regions on the Chinese mainland in 2018.

By the end of last year, it was included in the Civil Code, the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environment Pollution Caused by Solid Wastes and the Forest Law, Bie said. Legislators in 21 provincial regions have also incorporated the system into regional law.

He added that in total, more than 400 supporting documents have been introduced across the country to facilitate implementation of the mechanism.