SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has detained 11 people for dumping more than 2,900 tonnes of garbage into the Yangtze river in Jiangsu province, the official Xinhua news agency reported late on Sunday (Dec 25).

The garbage was dumped earlier this month after two firms entrusted to dispose of household garbage subcontracted the work to third parties, Xinhua said.

China has been cracking down on pollution in a bid to reverse the damage done to its water, soil and air in many regions, but officials have acknowledged that oversight and enforcement remain inadequate.

With most of its cities encircled by landfill, rapidly urbanising China is also struggling to deal with growing amounts of waste.

The environment ministry said in November that its 246 large- and medium-sized cities produced 185 million tonnes of household waste in 2015, and 1.91 billion tonnes of industrial waste.

China said in a plan published in September that it would need to spend 192.4 billion yuan (S$40 billion) from 2016 to 2020 to improve waste treatment rates.