Environmental concerns in China: problems, policies, and global implications

International Social Science Review, Spring-Summer, 2006 by Xiaofan Li

Since most environmental issues are addressed at the higher administrative levels, conflicts between economic development and environmental issues are often resolved in favor of the former. (56) Economic reform has encouraged the decentralization of the state government, resulting in more demanding tasks that state environmental protection institutions have to bear to control industrial pollution on a national scale. (57) Furthermore, leading officials remain irresolute in implementing environmental policies. The following excerpt, from Article 4 of the Environmental Protection Law of 1989, seeks to safeguard human health and facilitate socialist modernization. This represents a commitment to promote and enforce sustainable development legally.

   The plans for environmental protection formulated by the state must
   be incorporated into the national economic and social development
   plans; the state shall adopt economic and technological policies and
   measures favorable for environment protection so as to co-ordinate
   the work of environmental protection and economic construction and
   social development. (58)

The law also stipulates that all people are legally responsible for protecting the environment, including having the right to file lawsuit against any industries or individuals that pollute the environment. (59)

To be effective, state efforts to promote environmental protection must be incorporated into national economic and social development plans. Economic and technological measures favorable to environmental protection should be adopted to coordinate the work of environmental protection, economic construction, and social development. State government and local administration all too often promote their economic interests over the implementation of environmental regulations. As one senior NEPA official noted, "Only government regulation can successfully curb environmental degradation in a market economy." (60) This statement reflects a recognition of the focus of China's economic policies, xietiao fazhan (coordinated development), which marginalizes environmental concerns in relation to economic development.

China's Environmental Institutions and Organizations

In spite of State Council efforts to streamline the functions of governmental institutions regarding environmental protection, coordination and management in national and local environmental agencies have not been improved either substantially or satisfactorily. The hierarchy of environmental organizations reflects the fundamental features of China's institutional structure. For example, the State Environmental Protection Administration, (61) a government agency that exercises central responsibility in national environmental management, is directly governed and financed by the State Council. (62)

From the late 1970s through the late 1980s, environmental institutions mushroomed and began to wield genuine authority. Nationwide organizational structures were established at the state, provincial, and municipal levels which granted greater autonomy to local government and environmental agencies which allowed them to develop their own guidelines, formulate policies and regulations, and design their own means of enforcement. (63) For example, in 1988 the State Environmental Protection Bureau was established as an independent agency, responsible for developing guidelines, supervising the implementation of policies, and cooperating with scientific academies in promoting environmental research. (64)