Environmental Policies in China over the Past 10 Years: Progress, Problems and Prospects

Abstract

In the past ten years, China's struggle with the environmental pollution are associated with both alleviate poverty and control population growth. To reduce environmental impacts, the government made great efforts to struggle environmental quality deterioration. Unfortunately, short-term economic gain still receives priority and many positive forces are offset by earlier negative forces. It is difficult to control the environmental quality deterioration with high economic incensement, but at least slowing down degradation. China's environmental sustainability index remains among the lowest in the world. Two reasons contribute to the results. First, the distinctive feature of China's environmental policy system is vertical, using a “top down” approach to environmental management, which is marked by a deconcentration of central regulatory authority to other administrative entities. Second is the fragmented authority and budget-allocation problems. China's environmental conservation efforts are managed by different government departments called a “fragmented authoritarianism model.” Over the short term, the interactions between current positive and negative forces indicate that China's overall environmental conditions will continue to get worse before getting better.