Firms operating in China are likely to face increasingly stringent environmental regulations after the government this week elevated the status of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) to that of a ministry.

According to Xinhua reports, the new ministry aims to "to step up environmental improvement and ecological protection and accelerate the building of a resource-saving and environment-friendly society".

Hua Jianmin, State Council secretary-general, said that the new ministry would responsible for drafting and implementing environmental initiatives, policies and standards, managing environmental functions across different regions, and supervising pollution prevention and treatment schemes.

By placing SEPA on an equal footing with other government ministries it is expected that environmental considerations will play a far more prominent role in planning a policy decisions than has been the case in the past.

"In the past, policies of SEPA were always opposed by various interest groups," Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning vice head, Wang Jinnan, told Xinhua. "After the elevation, the new ministry could enjoy more rights in decision-making."

The announcement comes as China is looking to shake off its reputation as one of the most environmentally lax regulatory regimes in the world. Last year the government issued its first strategy document for combating climate change and is currently poised to become one of the first countries to enforce an outright ban on single use plastic bags.