Delegates to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China said on Monday that fake emissions data must be prevented in pollution monitoring and the quality of data should be improved.

Hu Guanjiu , a delegate and deputy director of the environmental monitoring center of Jiangsu province, picks up questions during a group interview at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing October 23, 2017.  [Photo/Xinhua]

"A monitor must be responsible for the data he or she provides and be held accountable lifelong," Hu Guanjiu, a delegate and deputy director of the environmental monitoring center of Jiangsu province, said in a group interview.

"Fake data is worse than no data as it relates to environmental policy making," she said, stressing that fake data must be wiped out and quality data is required.

Hu urged environmental data monitors nationwide to improve their capability and technical skills, and suggested third-party monitoring institutes set standard monitoring methods as soon as possible and be less profit-driven.

Gao Jianmin, another delegate and director of the Environmental Protection Department of North China's Hebei province, said the department has beefed up efforts against fake emissions data.

Each county in the province now has two monitoring stations and all data is required to be true, accurate and complete, he said in the group interview.