Environmental Protection in China in the Past 70 Years
39
The primary environmental management method at this stage was controlling
the total discharge of pollutants. After China acceded to the WTO, its economy
grew sharply and the country leapt to the top of the world in terms of production
capacity and the output of the chemical industry and energy, steel and other heavy
industries. Resource consumption rose rapidly and the gross discharge of major
pollutants also increased significantly. During 2006–2010, the Chinese government
stepped up its environmental management efforts and formulated national targets
for the reduction of major pollutant discharge and energy consumption per unit
of GDP and included them in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan. The national targets
were then broken down for each province, autonomous region and municipalities.
The Chinese government launched pollution reduction projects, strengthened targetbased environmental management, and requested local governments to attach greater
emphasis to environmental protection. As a result of these efforts, the deterioration
of environmental quality in the country was effectively curbed.
The increasing importance of pollution control and decision-making at a macro
level to the effectiveness of environmental protection determined the development of national environmental management policies and the direction of institutional reforms. Environmental problems and economic problems are intertwined.
Good economic policies must take environmental issues into consideration. During
this period, the government provided financial incentives to support environmental
protection initiatives. Financial incentives for desulfurization and denitrification at
power plants pushed China forward in the competition for the world’s largest clean
coal power system. The urban sewage treatment pricing policy provided financial
guarantee for the construction and operation of the largest urban sewage treatment
system in the world. The number of environmental facilities and power plant desulfurization facilities built during 2006–2010 in China exceeded the total number of such
facilities built in the country since 1949. In July 2008, the State Environmental Protection Administration became the Ministry of Environmental Protection, a ministeriallevel department under the State Council. Moreover, regional and river-basin-specific
environmental issues began to receive more attention. In 2006, the State Environmental Protection Administration set up six regional environmental supervision and
management institutions respectively for Northeast China, North China, Northwest
China, Southwest China, East China, and South China.
Stage V (2012–present): ecological civilization and the Beautiful China campaign
With the development of heavy and chemical industries, China’s resource consumption and pollutant discharge reached very high levels, and its air quality continued
to deteriorate. Extreme weather occurred in many places, including the BeijingTianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas, seriously affecting people’s daily
life. Chinese people became increasingly aware that environmental problems affected
not only economic development but also their life. Since the 18th National Congress
of the CPC, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has
attached great importance to ecological civilization development and environmental
protection, and incorporated ecological civilization development into the Five-Sphere
Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy for development. It
39
The primary environmental management method at this stage was controlling
the total discharge of pollutants. After China acceded to the WTO, its economy
grew sharply and the country leapt to the top of the world in terms of production
capacity and the output of the chemical industry and energy, steel and other heavy
industries. Resource consumption rose rapidly and the gross discharge of major
pollutants also increased significantly. During 2006–2010, the Chinese government
stepped up its environmental management efforts and formulated national targets
for the reduction of major pollutant discharge and energy consumption per unit
of GDP and included them in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan. The national targets
were then broken down for each province, autonomous region and municipalities.
The Chinese government launched pollution reduction projects, strengthened targetbased environmental management, and requested local governments to attach greater
emphasis to environmental protection. As a result of these efforts, the deterioration
of environmental quality in the country was effectively curbed.
The increasing importance of pollution control and decision-making at a macro
level to the effectiveness of environmental protection determined the development of national environmental management policies and the direction of institutional reforms. Environmental problems and economic problems are intertwined.
Good economic policies must take environmental issues into consideration. During
this period, the government provided financial incentives to support environmental
protection initiatives. Financial incentives for desulfurization and denitrification at
power plants pushed China forward in the competition for the world’s largest clean
coal power system. The urban sewage treatment pricing policy provided financial
guarantee for the construction and operation of the largest urban sewage treatment
system in the world. The number of environmental facilities and power plant desulfurization facilities built during 2006–2010 in China exceeded the total number of such
facilities built in the country since 1949. In July 2008, the State Environmental Protection Administration became the Ministry of Environmental Protection, a ministeriallevel department under the State Council. Moreover, regional and river-basin-specific
environmental issues began to receive more attention. In 2006, the State Environmental Protection Administration set up six regional environmental supervision and
management institutions respectively for Northeast China, North China, Northwest
China, Southwest China, East China, and South China.
Stage V (2012–present): ecological civilization and the Beautiful China campaign
With the development of heavy and chemical industries, China’s resource consumption and pollutant discharge reached very high levels, and its air quality continued
to deteriorate. Extreme weather occurred in many places, including the BeijingTianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas, seriously affecting people’s daily
life. Chinese people became increasingly aware that environmental problems affected
not only economic development but also their life. Since the 18th National Congress
of the CPC, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has
attached great importance to ecological civilization development and environmental
protection, and incorporated ecological civilization development into the Five-Sphere
Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy for development. It