E/C.12/CHN/CO/2 human rights standards. The Committee urges the State party to guarantee the right to appeal in domestic courts to the affected individuals and households, and to provide effective legal remedies, adequate compensation and guarantees of adequate alternative housing. The Committee also urges the State party to ensure that any relocation necessary for city renewal is carried out after prior consultation with the affected individuals and households, with their free, prior and informed consent and with full respect for their safety and dignity following an appropriate and transparent procedure. The Committee further draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 7 (1997) on the right to adequate housing (article 11, paragraph 1, of the Covenant): forced evictions. Resettlement of nomadic persons 31. The Committee is concerned about the resettlement of nomadic herdsmen in the “new socialist villages” carried out in the State party without proper consultation and in most cases without free, prior and informed consent, particularly in the western provinces and autonomous regions (arts. 1 and 11). The Committee urges the State party to take all necessary measures to immediately halt non-voluntary resettlement of nomadic herders from their traditional lands and non-voluntary relocation or rehousing programmes for other rural residents. The Committee recommends that the State party carry out meaningful consultations with the affected communities in order to examine and evaluate all available options. Pollution, ecological degradation and health care 32. The Committee remains concerned about the adverse environmental effects of industrial pollution and about food contamination, and their negative impact on the enjoyment of the right to an adequate standard of living and health. The Committee is also concerned that, despite the measures adopted to mitigate ecological degradation, environmental pollution and food contamination, the implementation and monitoring of those measures remain inadequate, and administrative authorities and private companies are not held accountable for contravening environmental legislation (arts. 11 and 12). The Committee urges the State party to strengthen its efforts to address environmental threats that affect the health and the adequate standard of living of the population, and thereby the enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights. The Committee recommends that the State party adopt all necessary measures to enforce its environmental regulations effectively, impose necessary sanctions and provide adequate compensation to those negatively affected. Right to health 33. Despite the increase in the budget allocation to health care, the Committee remains concerned about the inadequacy of funding, which particularly affects rural areas and exacerbates the persistent disparities in access to public health-care services between urban and rural areas and within regions. The Committee notes with concern that, owing to the household registration system (hukuo), rural-to-urban migrant workers do not have equal access to medical care subsidies with urban residents, and pay proportionately more for medical insurance and medical costs (art. 12). The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Undertake all necessary measures to improve its health-care services and to guarantee the enjoyment of the right to good quality and affordable health care to 10