China has decided to punish senior officials in northwest China's Gansu Province over environmental violations in the Qilian Mountains national nature reserve, an official document announced Thursday.

An inspection team has found various irregularities in the area, including over-exploitation of mineral resources, illegal construction and operation of hydropower facilities, excessive emissions by local enterprises, as well as the failure of local officials to rectify existing environmental issues, according to a document jointly released by the general offices of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council.

Senior officials, including Yang Zixing, vice governor of Gansu Province, will be held accountable for their failure to prevent and look into the environmental issues, and have been urged to learn a lesson from the incident.

The Qilian Mountains stand on the border of Gansu and Qinghai provinces. The nature reserve was designated a national protected site in 1988, but hundreds of mines in the area, and many kinds of construction projects, have continued to take a toll on the environment.