Updated

Chinese state media report that the country's environmental regulators have nearly doubled the number of cases they've referred to police involving suspected polluters over the first three-quarters of this year compared to all of last year.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that environmental agencies have also penalized about 190,000 enterprises for violating environmental laws over the past two years.

Xinhua said environment regulators transferred 1,232 cases involved suspected environmental crimes to police over the first three-quarters of this year, compared to 706 all of last year.

Chinese authorities are under intense pressure to curb severe environmental problems across the country, with pollution a main source of public discontent. President Xi Jinping has also pledged to stop the growth of the country's carbon emissions by 2030.