China's environmental watchdog has taken three cities, one county and one industrial zone off its blacklist as these places have passed environmental reassessment tests, the State Environmental Protection Administration said yesterday.

SEPA said that the five areas have met the "essential requirements" of environmental protection after "earnest overhaul."

The areas include Bayan Nur in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Zhoukou City in Henan Province, Weinan City in Shaanxi Province, Xiangfen County in Shanxi Province, and the industrial zone in Wuhu City of Anhui Province.

SEPA's Vice Director Pan Yue said the administration will "strengthen inspection and supervision over these areas and constantly conduct on-the-spot checks to see whether the companies have lived up to their word on environmental protection and to guard against a rebound."

Eight other places were still on SEPA's blacklist as they failed to meet the requirements for environmental protection.

A recent spate of water pollution incidents has prompted SEPA to launch its latest campaign to persuade local authorities along China's four major rivers to prioritize environmental protection above economic gain.

Local authorities in six cities, two counties and five industrial zones - all near the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, the Huaihe River and the Haihe River - were blacklisted by SEPA in early July.

Tests showed that water running through these cities and counties was "heavily polluted" during the first four months of this year.

They were told to immediately suspend construction projects that have not gone through environmental assessments and were only given three months to fix their "environmental problems."

SEPA also asked polluters affecting the rivers to remove sewage exits to drinking-water reservoirs.