Changes in Environmental Policy in the Past 40 Years of Reform …
11
As early as the early 1980s, the Chinese government made environmental protection a basic national policy, proposed “three synchronizations” and “three unifications” for a good balance between development and environment protection, and
began to build an independent and authoritative environment protection institution.
However, in the initial stages of development, the Chinese government was not
able to distinguish between environmental governance and environmental development in theory and considered development as its top priority. The fact that China
was still in the preliminary stage of socialism determined that China should focus
on economic growth at the time. Some local governments overemphasized development and did much more for economic growth than for ecological and environmental protection. This was perhaps natural given the stage of economic development
the country was in at the time. Then, the Chinese government’s approach to environment protection evolved along with changes in China’s national conditions. It
distinguished clearly between government environmental management and corporate environmental governance, as well as between environmental management and
environmental development, and established a national environmental protection
authority directly under the State Council. To separate development and environment protection in institutional arrangements, the State Environmental Protection
Administration was moved out of the charge of the Ministry of Urban and Rural
Development and Environmental Protection whose top responsibility was to promote
development.
Since 2000, under the guidance of a series of development concepts, China’s environment governance system has significantly expanded its integrated management,
planning, and policy coordination functions. This change has been prompted by the
increasing public awareness of the massive environmental cost of rapid social and
economic development as China adhered to a growth-first approach in its development. Around 2003, the State Environmental Protection Administration published
the National Environmental Security Strategy Report, pointing out that in China, the
environmental cost of economic development had offset the benefits of economic
growth in many regions, and it was meaningful at the time to understand the importance of environmental protection to national security and development. More and
more people gradually realized that environmental problems would affect economic
growth ultimately, and that it was necessary for China to adopt a more sustainable
economic development model and a big-picture decision-making method in order to
strengthen environment protection. This realization altered the direction of the reform
of China’s environmental management authorities. The State Environmental Protection Administration was reorganized into the Ministry of Environmental Protection,
a ministerial-level department under the State Council, with the power of deliberation. The government departments responsible for overseeing economic sectors also
increased their engagement in environmental protection and played an important
role in promoting energy conservation, emission reduction, circular economy, and
low-carbon development.
With regard to circular economy, the then President Jiang Zemin attended the
second General Assembly of the Global Environment Facility in 2002 and pointed out
11
As early as the early 1980s, the Chinese government made environmental protection a basic national policy, proposed “three synchronizations” and “three unifications” for a good balance between development and environment protection, and
began to build an independent and authoritative environment protection institution.
However, in the initial stages of development, the Chinese government was not
able to distinguish between environmental governance and environmental development in theory and considered development as its top priority. The fact that China
was still in the preliminary stage of socialism determined that China should focus
on economic growth at the time. Some local governments overemphasized development and did much more for economic growth than for ecological and environmental protection. This was perhaps natural given the stage of economic development
the country was in at the time. Then, the Chinese government’s approach to environment protection evolved along with changes in China’s national conditions. It
distinguished clearly between government environmental management and corporate environmental governance, as well as between environmental management and
environmental development, and established a national environmental protection
authority directly under the State Council. To separate development and environment protection in institutional arrangements, the State Environmental Protection
Administration was moved out of the charge of the Ministry of Urban and Rural
Development and Environmental Protection whose top responsibility was to promote
development.
Since 2000, under the guidance of a series of development concepts, China’s environment governance system has significantly expanded its integrated management,
planning, and policy coordination functions. This change has been prompted by the
increasing public awareness of the massive environmental cost of rapid social and
economic development as China adhered to a growth-first approach in its development. Around 2003, the State Environmental Protection Administration published
the National Environmental Security Strategy Report, pointing out that in China, the
environmental cost of economic development had offset the benefits of economic
growth in many regions, and it was meaningful at the time to understand the importance of environmental protection to national security and development. More and
more people gradually realized that environmental problems would affect economic
growth ultimately, and that it was necessary for China to adopt a more sustainable
economic development model and a big-picture decision-making method in order to
strengthen environment protection. This realization altered the direction of the reform
of China’s environmental management authorities. The State Environmental Protection Administration was reorganized into the Ministry of Environmental Protection,
a ministerial-level department under the State Council, with the power of deliberation. The government departments responsible for overseeing economic sectors also
increased their engagement in environmental protection and played an important
role in promoting energy conservation, emission reduction, circular economy, and
low-carbon development.
With regard to circular economy, the then President Jiang Zemin attended the
second General Assembly of the Global Environment Facility in 2002 and pointed out