China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and
Development (CCICED)
Progress in Environment and Development
Policies in China (2013-2014) and
CCICED Policy Recommendations Impact
DRAFT
CCICED 2014 Annual General Meeting
December 1-3, 2014
Contents
NOTE: Major editing will be performed following the AGM.
Forewords ......................................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 3
1. Ecological Civilization System Construction and Institutional Innovation Are Carried Forward
Stably ................................................................................................................................................ 4
2. Further promotion of the Pilot Carbon Trading and Emission Trading Projects ......................... 5
3. The Reform on Resource and Environment Taxation Achieved Progress ................................... 8
4. Actively Promote Green Investment and Consumption ............................................................ 10
5. New Urbanization Planning, the Road of Green Urbanization.................................................. 11
6. Actively Promote Information Disclosure and Public Engagement, Improve Public Governance
Structure of the Environment .......................................................................................................... 12
7. A Greener Government Performance Examination Mechanism................................................ 14
8. Severely Crack Down Violations of Environmental Laws and Promote Enterprises
Law-Abiding ................................................................................................................................... 17
9. Further Address Air Pollution and Other Prominent Environmental Problems ......................... 20
10. Participating in the Global Climate Change Solution and Cooperation .................................... 24
11. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 27
ANNEX 1 the Relevance of CCICED Policy Recommendations with Policy progress in
2013-2014 ....................................................................................................................................... 28
ANNEX 2 Progress in Chinese Major Policy on Environment and Development in 2013 ............ 34
1. New Progress in Environment and Development in 2013 ......................................................... 34
1.1 Economic and Social Development .................................................................................. 34
1.2 Progress in Energy Saving and Emission Reduction ........................................................ 35
2. Environmental Issues China Faces and its Priorities of Environment and Development in 2013 .
................................................................................................................................................... 36
3. Progress in Major Policies ......................................................................................................... 38
3.1 Road Map for the Construction of Ecological Civilization System is Defined in the
Decision of the CCCPC on Some Major Issues
Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform..................................................... 38
3.2 Great Strides in the Revision of the Environmental Protection Law of the People’s
Republic of China............................................................................................................ 41
3.3 Other Major Macro Policies .............................................................................................. 44
1
Forewords
As a high-level policy advisory body approved by the Chinese Government, the China
Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) is
responsible primarily for proposing policy recommendations for decision makers’ reference
and adoption on important issues in the fields of environment and development. At CCICED
annual general meetings, Chinese and foreign members engage in discussions on policy issues
on the basis of policy research, leading to policy recommendations submitted to the State
Council and central government departments. The CCICED aims to further enhance its
unique role, improve working mechanisms, strengthen understanding of the overall progress
of policies in China, and assist members to better offer advice and suggestions.
Commissioned by the CCICED Secretariat, the supporting group of CCICED Chinese and
International Chief Advisors have been responsible since 2008 for drafting the report entitled
Progress of Important Policies Pertaining to China’s Environment and Development, and
Impact of CCICED Policy Recommendations. The purpose of this report is to help Council
members to fulfill their mission of policy discussion and recommendation through providing
them an overview of China’s major progress in environment and development policies during
the previous year by tracking the latest development of issues related to crucial CCICED
policy recommendations, along with the adoption of relevant policy recommendations by
Chinese government departments.
This report does not attempt to assess the extent to which CCICED environmental and
development policies have succeeded, but it does aim to sort out and compare China’s policy
practice with CCICED policy recommendations, thus illustrating the relevance of its selection
of policy research topics and its proposed content with policy progress. It is perhaps up to the
decision-makers to determine the real impacts of CCICED on Chinese environmental and
development policies.
This paper is the seventh report provided by the supporting group of CCICED Chinese and
International Chief Advisors. Compared with the previous ones, the report for this year has
been changed a lot and establishes different framework. The first part is a briefing and
analysis of the progress of legislation and policy development in the past one year (Nov 2013
to Oct 2014) that are relevant to the CCICED policy proposals made mainly in 2013 and
partly in previous years. The second part, as the annex of the report, provides an overview of
the major progress of the environmental, social and economic development and the key
policies that is taken into effect, which shows a macro policy background to understand
China’s changes.
2
Introduction
The year of 2014 is the first year of a comprehensive implementation of the Decision of the
CCCPC on Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform
(hereinafter referred to as the Decision), as well as the key year for the implementation of the
“12th Five-Year Plan”. The gradually improving top-level design of ecological civilization
construction, significant progress made in environmental rule by law, and the initial
establishment of a modern pluralistic environmental governance system, indicate Chinese
government is making great efforts to promote energy conservation and emission reduction.
As the typical top-level design, the Decision emphasizes the enhancement of ecological
civilization system construction, including the improvement of natural resource property
rights system and application control system, delimitation of ecological red line,
implementation of the system of paid use of resources and the ecological compensation
system, and reform of the management system of ecological protection. In addition, the
“green” performance evaluation mechanism gives an impetus to China’s economic mode
transformation to the green growth.
The ecological civilization construction is promoted by a stricter rule by law. The promotion
of ecological civilization construction should rely on the rule by law. During the past one year,
China has made significant progress in the legislative, judicial or law enforcement field, such
as the adaptation of the ever strictest Environmental Protection Law, the establishment of the
environmental resources courtroom in Supreme People’s Court, and the “explosive” growth
of criminal cases related to environmental pollution and etc., which indicate that there are
increasingly supportive guarantees for the construction of ecological civilization and a
beautiful China.
The innovation in social governance has guided the public and market how to play a more
significant role in environmental protection. CCICED pointed out in 2013 policy suggestions
that “the core of building a good environmental public governance structure lies in the good
handle of two relations between the government and market, and government and society”,
“the government should give a full play to the role of social organizations in environment and
development and the long-term role of market mechanism, and constantly enrich the market
means of environmental protection”, and “the government should develop corresponding
strategies and policies to punish environmentally illegal enterprises but encourage the
compliance and legal enterprises to volunteer for environmental and social responsibility, thus
promoting enterprises to lead the high-level development of green growth”. The new
Environmental Protection Law and many other normative documents also emphasize that the
public and market should be allowed to play a greater role in environmental protection.
Through public participation, environmental public interest litigation, corporate
environmental credit rating and other means, the supervision of enterprises can be
strengthened, and their illegal costs be increased. Ministry of Environmental Protection,
National Development and Reform Commission, People's Bank of China, and China Banking
Regulatory Commission jointly issued Corporate Environmental Credit Evaluation (Trial) to
guide the implementation of corporate environmental credit evaluation in different places.
The new Environmental Protection Law clearly provides that enterprises’ environmentally
illegal information should be credited to the social integrity file and their environmental credit
be rated. In this way, the public and market can be involved in the evaluation, jointly building
the environmental protection mechanism of “trustworthiness incentives” and “dishonesty
punishment” and solving the unreasonable “low cost for illegal behaviors” in the
environmental field.
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The past one year witnesses a great stride of environment and developmental that has been
made with numbers of new significant policies and measures (see annex 2). Under this
background, many policy recommendations that are proposed by CCICED in prior years have
come into reality. (See annex 1)
1.
Ecological Civilization System Construction and Institutional Innovation Are
Carried Forward Stably
The Decision of the CCCPC on Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening
the Reform approved by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC
proposed the acceleration of the construction of ecological civilization system. This marks
that ecological civilization construction has entered an institutional construction stage from a
concept and a governing idea stage.
The 2013 CCICED Annual Meeting was held right after the closing ceremony of the Third
Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC. CCICED committee members
proposed suggestions for the future institutionalized construction while giving high commend
on the new efforts made by Chinese government for promoting ecological civilization
construction. CCICED suggested that we should take the ecological civilization system as the
key point, enhance top-level design and senior leadership, formulate implementation plan and
make planned, systematic and all-round implementation step by step. We should promote
ecological civilization construction by such means as initiating demonstration pilot projects
and establishing evaluation system and good governing system, capture the important
opportunity of “the 13th Five-year Plan” and make good planning on “the 13th Five-year Plan”
to realize green transformation. CCICED also put forward suggestions on the key fields that
influence the relationship between environment and economic social development and the
major fields concerning about environmental protection. Furthermore, CCICED also made
specific advices for the improvement of environmental impact assessment, and for the unified
coordination among economy, social development and environmental planning from planning
angle.
In terms of the implementation of the top-level design for ecological civilization system
construction, the central government has profoundly deepened the reform leading group in all
rounds by setting up 6 special teams. The reform of economic system and ecological
civilization system are categorized in one special team which ranks in the first place. Mr.
Zhou Shengxian, the Minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, is appointed as the
deputy chief of the special team, which reflects the high attention paid by the central
government on ecological civilization construction and environmental protection, as well as
the strategic positioning of coordinating the relationship between economy and ecological
environmental protection, and taking both of them into account.
As one of the most important department for implementing ecological civilization
construction, the Ministry of Environmental Protection had been actively exploring the
institutional construction for ecological civilization in the past one year. The Ministry of
Environmental Protection (MEP) founded overall deepening reform leading team to be
responsible for the overall deepening reform work for environmental protection. Zhou
Shengxian, Minister of the MEP, points out that ecological civilization construction is a
complicated and giant system engineering project, thus we should stand on the height of
pushing forward the modernization of national ecological environment governing system and
governing ability to emphasize on promoting ecological civilization construction and
environmental protection. Furthermore, he also proposes the “four beams and eight columns”
for ecological civilization’s institutional construction. Firstly, we should take active
exploration on the new road for environmental protection as the main practice body to further
enrich the theoretical system of environmental protection. This is an effective method to push
forward ecological civilization construction. Secondly, we should take the implementation of
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the newly revised Environmental Protection Act as the main force to form powerful laws and
regulations for ecological environment protection. This is the strong weapon to promote
ecological civilization construction. Thirdly, we should take deepening ecological
environmental protection system reform as an opportunity to establish an institutional system
for environmental protection organizations to strictly monitor all pollutants. It is the
organizational guaranty t to promote ecological civilization construction. And fourthly, we
should constitute the working system for improving environmental quality based on the three
major battles in air, water and soil pollution prevention. This is the main battlefield for
boosting ecological civilization construction.
“The 13th Five-year Plan” becomes the important window phase for the institutional
construction of ecological civilization. In April 2014, the NDRC initiated the compiling work
for the planning of “The 13th Five-year Plan” to carry out pilot study bidding for the planning
of major issues. There are three issues involving with ecological civilization construction and
environmental protection. They are respectively ecological civilization construction and
institutional study of “The 13th Five-year Plan”, environmental management emphasis and
model innovation study in “The 13th Five-year Plan” period, and the studies for coping with
global warming and green and low carbon development in “The 13th Five-year Plan” period.
2. Further promotion of the Pilot Carbon Trading and Emission Trading
Projects
CCICED has always been attaching great importance to the important position of
environmental economy means in pushing forward energy conservation and emission
reduction as well as in realizing ecological civilization construction. Such market oriented
long-term mechanisms as price, taxation and emission trading are important elements of the
policy suggestions submitted by CCICED. In 2013, great progress was achieved in employing
carbon emission trading as an economic means for controlling carbon emission.
In June, 2013, Shenzhen took the lead to officially initiate carbon trading market. Shanghai,
Beijing, Guangdong and Tianjin followed its step and opened the carbon trading market by
the end of 2013, while Hubei and Chongqing also officially kicked off the markets in April
2014 and June 2014 respectively. Seven carbon trading pilot cities have all established
registration system and trading platform, formulated supporting detailed rules as greenhouse
gas emission accounting and report guidance for enterprises in major industries, the third
party checking guidance and trading rules. Thus the carbon trading market is started from
scratch in China. Pilot trading involves such fields or industries as iron steel, chemistry,
electricity, heating power, petro-chemistry, papermaking, nonferrous metals, oil and gas
exploitation and large-scale buildings. By June 29, 2014, the pilot provinces and cities have
accumulated a total transaction amount of about 8.56 million tons of carbon with a total sum
of around 338 million yuan. 1
Meanwhile, NDRC has set about the construction of national carbon market. It has initiated to
formulate the management method for national carbon emission trading and carried out
researches on the total national carbon trading quantity control target and decomposed
implementation scheme. It will continue to undertake research and provide guidance for
greenhouse gas accounting and reporting for the enterprises in key industries, and develop the
national carbon trading registration system. In January 2014, NDRC issued the notice to
organize reporting on greenhouse gas emission by key enterprises and institutions so as to
provide data support for the works related with carbon emission trading.
By June, 2014, seven carbon trading pilot cities have all formulated measures for carbon
“The Work for Coping with Climate Change Achieved Positive Progress”, reprinted from NDRC website:
http://xwzx.ndrc.gov.cn/xwfb/201408/t20140806_621439.html, Latest visiting time: Aug. 17, 2014
1
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emission trading management, and taken the initial shape of the basic law frame for carbon
emission trading. Shanghai took the lead to release “Shanghai Trial Measures for Carbon
Emission Management” on Nov. 20, 2013; Tianjin released Tianjin Interim Measure for
Carbon Emission Trading Management on Dec. 20, 2013; Guangdong province issued Trial
Method for Carbon Emission Management in Guangdong Province on Jan. 15, 2014;
Shenzhen city released Shenzhen Interim Measure for Carbon Emission Trading Management
on March 19, 2014; Hubei province released Interim Measure for Carbon Emission
Management and Trading in Hubei Province on April 6, 2014; Chongqing issued Chongqing
Interim Measure for Carbon Emission Trading Management on April 26, 2014; and Beijing
released Beijing Carbon Emission Trading Management Method (Trial) on May 28, 2014.
Above mentioned Measures share similar text structure; covers a wide variety of contents,
including the distribution and management of emission quota, carbon emission trading,
carbon emission monitoring, report and check, stimulation and restriction mechanisms; and
clearly defines legal responsibilities. The main bodies to bear legal responsibilities generally
include the carbon emission units under carbon emission control and management, trading
institutions, trading subjects and the third party inspection institutions. There are minor
differences among the carbon emission units under carbon emission control and management
in each pilot city. For example, the Measures of Guangdong Province and Shenzhen City not
only specify the scope of the carbon emission units under carbon emission control and
management, but also include the public buildings (including government buildings) with
large emission quantity. And the specific trading rules also vary in different cities. Shenzhen
and Tianjin allow individuals who are qualified in inspections to enter the market for trading;
while Guangdong and Shanghai only allow trading among enterprises under control and
management. In addition, except for the floor trading inside the trading market, Beijing and
Tianjin also allow enterprises to make offline agreed trading. All in all, the seven carbon
trading pilot cities have made improvements both in technical level and legal guarantee level.
The carbon trading practice is under stable development.
In terms of regional level, a trans-regional agreement on joint research of carbon emission
trading is entered by and among six provinces on Nov. 28, 2013 including Beijing, Tianjin,
Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shandong. It is designed to carry out cooperative research
on such aspects as carbon emission accounting, inspection and quota approval. This will lay a
foundation for the construction of regional carbon trading market, and it will explore a way
for pushing forward the construction of national carbon trading market.
As for national level, the Clean Development Mechanism in China organized by NDRC
established the “Voluntary Emission Reduction Trading Information Platform” in Oct., 2013,
on which details of approval, registration and issuance of voluntary emission reduction
project can be publicized. And the issued emission reduction quantity can enter the exchange
market for trading. This signs that CCER’s trading has marched forward one substantial step.
By the end of Dec., 2013, the Climate Department of NDRC released the Notice on the First
Meeting of the Council for Voluntary Emission Reduction Project Filing Examination, which
marks that domestic voluntary emission reduction project’s procedures have achieved
breakthrough progress. And the follow-up registration procedures may be under preparation.
According to the content of the notice, the Climate Department organized examination
council including such members as the related departments of various ministries including
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance and
Ministry of Environmental Protection, as well as three approved examination institutions
(including CQC, CEC and Guangzhou Ceprei). On March 27, 2014, China’s voluntary
emission reduction trading information platform released two successfully filed projects
which opened the registration channel for China’s voluntary emission reduction projects. The
two projects are the two wind power projects which were approved on the first examination
meeting. According to the released project information, the two projects are respectively the
300 megawatt wind power project of Wulanyiligeng, Bayannur, Inner Mongolia, and Gansu
Anxi Xiangyang Wind Power Plant project with a total annual emission reduction amount of
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848600 tons. Among them, Anxi Xiangyang project sold 10,000 tons of CCER in the unit
price of 16yuan/ton when China Beijing Environment Exchange was initiated. The seller was
Longyuan Carbon Asset. The two wind power projects which are registered this time have all
declared the Pre-CDM generated by registered CDM projects before the registration date. And
they are all verified by Guangzhou CEPREI as a third party. The CCER quantity of
PRE-CDM was 1.761 million tons.
On April 29, 2014, the State Forestry Bureau released the Guiding Opinion for Promoting
Forestry Carbon Trading to guide all regions to improve the forestry carbon trading under
clean development mechanism (CDM) and to promote the voluntary trading for forestry
carbon exchange. It aims to explore the forestry carbon trading under carbon emission trading.
The Guiding Opinion regulates that the forestry carbon trading under CDM should be
implemented according to the Measures for the Operation and Management of Clean
Development Mechanism Projects jointly formulated by NDRC, the Ministry of Science and
Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance. While performing such
activities, the project implementation unit should communicate and negotiate with forestry
administration department for the eligibility and ownership of land and project organization
implementation. The provincial level forestry administration department should provide
guidance and coordination service for the implementation of related activities by project
implementation unit within the area under administration. Meanwhile, it should also master
the information of the activity of the forestry carbon exchange project under CDM and timely
report to the State Forestry Bureau.
On May 20, 2014, China and EU officially kicked off brand new carbon emission trading
cooperation project, marking that China and European’s joint efforts for reducing global
greenhouse gas emission made one more solid step. The new cooperation project will last for
three years with EU investing Euro 5 million. The annual bilateral dialogue meeting for
climate change between China and EU was held on May 20. The conference agenda includes
international climate change negotiation, the climate change policies of China and EU
respectively and Sino-EU cooperation. Under the new cooperation projects, EU experts will
share EU’s experiences on carbon trading field with the experts and policies makers from
seven carbon trading pilot cities in China, and they will provide support to China in
establishing national level carbon trading system, including the support for the design of some
key system’s “module”, such as the setting of upper limit of carbon emission, distribution of
quota, the establishment of key market structure and the setting of monitoring, report,
inspection and certification systems.
On July 15, 2014, the conference for the founding of National Technical Committee on
Carbon Management of Standardization Administration of China (NTCCMSAC) was held at
NDRC. NTCCMSAC is mainly responsible for preparing carbon emission management terms,
making statistics, conducting monitoring, defining the method for compiling regional carbon
emission list, accounting and reporting of carbon emission on enterprise and project level, low
carbon technologies and equipments such as low carbon products, carbon capture and carbon
storage, the formulation and revision of national standards for such fields as carbon neutrality
and carbon exchange. And it should cooperate with international standardization organization,
the Technical Committee for Carbon Capture, Transportation and Geological Storage
(ISO/TC265) and Sub-Technical Committee for Greenhouse Gas Management and Related
Activity, Environmental Management Technical Committee (ISO/TC207/SC7).
On Aug. 31, 2014, Sun Cuihua, the Deputy Director of Department of Climate Change,
NDRC revealed on 2014 High Grade Seminar for China’s Low Carbon Development Strategy
that national unified carbon emission trading market is planned to launch trial operation in
2016. The quota will be generally distributed by the state, and part of the provinces and cities
will be given priority to enter the market, while the rest can only enter the market after
completion of the distributed total quantity target. Currently, NDRC has drafted Measures for
the Management on Carbon Emission Trading in China, which is now under internal
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discussion. Opinions of related departments will be sought in early October and it is planned
to report to the State Council and Central Reform Leading Team in early November.
Except for continuing to promote pilot carbon trading, the General Office of the State Council
released Guidance Opinion for Further Promoting Pilot Project for Paid Use and Trading for
Emission Right on Aug. 6, 2014. It proposes that the pilot areas must complete preliminary
authorization on the emission rights for existing emission units by the end of 2015, and such
authorization should be granted every 5 year. By the end of 2017, the system for paid use and
trading of emission right should be basically established to lay a foundation for overall
promotion of the system for paid use and trading of emission right. This is the first time China
defined a clear timetable for such issue, which shows that China will choose the most efficient
method through market mechanism to promote energy conservation, emission reduction and
the construction of ecological civilization. This guidance opinion clearly specifies that the
emission right should not be granted to the emission units which fail to meet requirements in
national industrial policy. And it also puts forward to establish emission right reservation
system, to repurchase the “surplus emission rights” from emission units and put them onto the
market on right time, and to mainly support strategic emerging industries and the construction
of key technological demonstration projects. The government intends to constraint and close
down outdated production facilities and give strong support to emerging industry, which
reflect its policy of industrial structure adjustment
3.
The Reform on Resource and Environment Taxation Achieved Progress
To achieve the green transformation of China’s economy via economic instruments such as
resource and environment taxation is the environmental management measure that has long
been promoted by the CCICED. In the 2012 policy recommendations, CCICED suggested to
fully implement the green taxation system (including environment taxation and resource
taxation) and other market incentives, in order to promote the behavioral transformations of
the enterprises and the public and enthusiastically promote reform on resource product prices
and on environmental charges, deepen the development of environmental economic policies
such as the green investment, green loan, green taxation, green prices, green trade, green
securities, green insurances and so on.
It is required in the Decision of the CCCPC on Some Major Issues Concerning
Comprehensively Deepening the Reform that, “The reform for resource taxation should be
accelerated”, “Resource taxation should be gradually expanded to all fields that occupy
various natural ecological spaces”, and “Changing environmental protection fee into taxation
should be promoted”. The Environmental Protection Law approved in April, 2014 also lays a
foundation for the legislation of environmental tax. It clearly points out that “the object that
should be levied with environmental protection tax according to legal regulations shall not be
levied with emission fee.”
Such places as Beijing and Tianjin took the lead to tighten the levy standards for pollutant fee
to enhance the role of economic mean in guiding pollution control. Beijing has taken the lead
to raise the charging standards for the four major pollutants including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen
oxide, chemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen from original charge of 0.63, 0.63, 0.7
and 0.875 yuan/kilo to 10, 10, 10 and 12 yuan/kilo since Jan. 1, 2014. The charging standard
after adjustment is 14-15 times as much as before, becoming the highest level in China.
Enterprises with actual pollutant discharge 50% lower than the prescribed limit should be
charged by half of the standard price as a bonus, and those with actual pollutant discharge
between 50%-100% of pollutant discharge limit should be charged by the standard price. And
8
the enterprises with actual pollutant discharge higher than the limit should be double charged
and punished according to rules. In Q1 of 2014, Beijing’s pollutant charges achieved 88
million yuan, remarkably increased in comparison with 8.34 million yuan in Q1 of last year.
Meanwhile, many pollutant discharge units in Beijing are all actively taking effective
measures to reduce the discharge of pollutants. 2
Since July 1, 2014, Tianjin city has started the implementation of new pollutant charge
standards: sulfur dioxide: 6.30 yuan/kg (1.26 yuan before adjustment); nitrix oxide: 8.5
yuan/kg (0.63 yuan before adjustment); chemical oxygen demand: 7.5 yuan/kg (0.7 yuan
before adjustment) and ammonia nitrogen: 9.5 yuan/kg (0.88 yuan before adjustment). In
order to encourage low standard discharge and punish excessive pollutant discharge and to
enhance enterprises’ enthusiasms for pollution control and emission reduction, Tianjin
Environmental Protection Bureau also formulated differentiated pollutant charge policies like
Beijing.
On September 1, 2014, the NDRC, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Environmental
Protection jointly released Notices for the Issues about Adjusting Pollutant Charge Standard
to tighten pollutant charge standard. The Notice requires that the pricing departments,
financial departments and environmental protection departments of all provinces (districts and
cities) should adjust the charge standards for the pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxide in the air to no less than 1.2 yuan/pollutional equivalent, and the chemical oxygen
demand, ammonia nitrogen and five major heavy metals (including lead, mercury, chromium,
cadmium and metallic arsenic) in water to no less than 1.4 yuan/pollutional equivalent by the
end of June 2015. Each sewage discharge outlet should be charged with five major heavy
metal pollutants; and the other pollutants should be charged by pollutional equivalent from
most to least, with no more than 3 of them being charged. It is required in the Notice that the
pollutant charge levy rate should be increased through online monitoring equipments.
Differentiated levy rate should be implemented to encourage emission reduction. Examination
of law enforcement for environmental protection and pollutant charge situation should be
enhanced to crack down such illegal behaviors as secrete and illegal discharge of poisonous
and harmful pollutants and abnormal use of pollution control equipments; and to investigate
such behaviors as non-payment or overdue payment for the pollutant charge according to the
regulations. The above mentioned behaviors should be punished according to related
regulations. Information of enterprises’ pollutant discharge, pollutant charge and usage should
be publicized to the public so as to improve the information transparency.
While tightening pollutant charge standard and enhancing pollution control, resource tax
reform is also pushing forward. In particular, coal resource tax reform has been driven into
“fast lane”. During 2014 national two sessions, The Report on 2013 Central and Local
Governments Budget Implementation situation and 2014 Central and Local Governments
Draft Budget submitted by Ministry of Finance to the NPC specifies that “ad valorem
collection reform for coal resource tax should be implemented”. The Report on the
Implementation of 2013 National Economic and Social Development and the draft of 2014
National Economic and Social Development submitted by NDRC to NPC also mentions that
“the promotion of coal resource tax reform is included in the reform of financial and taxation
system in the major tasks of 2014 economic society development”.
The reform of natural gas price has acquired progress. The Notice of NDRC about Adjusting
Non-resident Use Stock Natural Gas Price issued in August, 2014 decides that, the highest
price for each thousand cubic meters of non-resident use stock natural gas at each gate station
should be increased by 400 yuan.
“The increase of pollutant charge standard received remarkable effect for promoting pollution control and
emission reduction in our city”, reprinted from Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau website,
http://www.bjepb.gov.cn/bjepb/323474/331443/331937/333896/397747/index.html, the latest visiting time:
September 10, 2014.
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4.
Actively Promote Green Investment and Consumption
The CCICED proposed in the policy suggestions provided to Chinese government in 2011
that, the policies should promote the sustainability and indemnificatory of Chinese investment.
A serious of evaluation, permission and monitoring systems should be established to facilitate
the government to give proper supervisions on overseas investment enterprises’ operations
abroad. The Overseas Investment Management Measure (No. 3 [2014] Ministry of Commerce
Order) released by the Ministry of Commerce in 2014 requires that enterprises should ask the
overseas enterprises which they invested in to abide by the laws and regulations of local area,
respect local customs and habits, implement social responsibilities, protect the environment
and labors, build enterprise culture, and promote the integration with local area.
In 2011, CCICED proposed in policy suggestions that, we should promote sustainable
consumption; and the policy suggestions in 2013 proposed to reform and improve the pricing
system, taxation system and financial incentive system that are conducive to sustainable
consumption. In March 2014, NDRC released the Guidance Opinion of NDRC for
Establishing Complete System for the Ladder Price of the Gas for Domestic Use to promote
the ladder price of the gas for domestic use. The first ladder of gas price should be determined
according to basic compensation gas costs which will remain relatively stable within a certain
period; the second ladder of gas price should be determined in the principle of rational
compensations and benefits. The price level will be maintained in 1.2 times as high as that of
the first ladder; and the third ladder of gas price should be set in the principle of full reflection
of the scarce degree of natural gas resource and suppressing excessive consumption. And the
price level should be around 1.5 times as high as that of the first ladder.
CCICED pointed out in 2013 policy suggestions that, “We should enhance the public green
purchase and tend to purchase the products produced by green supply chain. We must amend
government’s procurement bidding system and add new energy and low emission cars into
government’s procurement list and make it become the important indicators for performance
appraisal for legal procurement standard.” In order to promote the development of energy
saving and environmental protection industries, and to prevent air pollution, five ministries
and commissions including National Government Offices Administration jointly released
Implementation Scheme for the Purchase of New Energy Cars by Government Organizations
and Public Institutions on July 13, 2014. It specifies the time table and roadmap for the use of
“new energy” by official business vehicles of government organizations and public
institutions. As for how to carry out these target requirements, this Implementation Scheme
proposes 14 concrete measures. For example, government organizations and public
institutions should be granted fiscal subsidies to buy new energy cars of which the
procurement price should not exceed 180,000 yuan after fiscal subsidies deduction; the local
government should take electric charging facilities dedicated to new energy cars as urban
public infrastructures, and include them into the general planning of urban construction and
development; local government should give new energy cars with proper preferential policies
in addition to the formulation and implementation of such systems as traffic control based on
vehicle numbers, license quota auction, car quota index and prior traffic. It is introduced that
the Scheme also regulates the quantitative assessment feedback supervision. It proposes that
from 2015, Energy Conservation Departments of Public Institutions in all provinces and cities
are required to summarize information of new-energy cars of the previous year according to
annual statistics, such as the sales volume, accumulated mileage, energy consumption and
expenses, and report them to National Government Offices Administration. Meanwhile, the
Scheme also regulates that the institutions with slow working progress and that failed to
achieve the procurement ratio should be publicized, and the institutions that practice fault and
cause adverse impacts should be ordered to make rectification and be traced with the
accountability of related leaders.
In August 2014, the Ministry of Environmental Protection released Breath Together and Share
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One Boat’ Citizen Behavior Code. It advocates the public to implement low carbon and green
lifestyle and consumption mode and to actively participate in air pollution control and
environmental protection. It also advocates green consumption, priority to purchase green
products, and nonuse of heavily-polluted, energy-wasting and over-packaged products. And it
appeals the public to be conservative in consumption, to recycle the products and to
participate in garbage classification.
5.
New Urbanization Planning, the Road of Green Urbanization
The Central Economic Working Conference in 2012 pointed out that, urbanization is the
historical task of modernization construction in China as well as the largest potential for
boosting domestic demands. The sound development of urbanization depends on the
improvement of urbanization quality, making the best use of the circumstances and drawing
on advantages and avoiding disadvantages. From 12th to 13th December 2013, the Central
Urbanization Working Conference was held in Beijing. General Secretary Hu Jintao and
Premier Li Keqiang delivered important speeches on the conference. It has pointed out on the
conference that urbanization is the only way to modernization. Putting forward urbanization is
an important way to address the problems of agriculture, the rural area and the farmers. It is
also the powerful support to coordinate regional development and a significant method to
expand domestic demand and promote industrial upgrading. Urbanization is of major
practical significance and profound historical significance in building a comprehensive
well-off society and accelerating socialist modernization.
Policy suggestions of 2013 attached great importance to the resources and environment
challenges confronted in the process of urbanization. It suggested that the model of green
modernization should be explored, resources and energy utilization in cities and towns should
be improved, the urban environment infrastructure should be built at the same time, and green
transportation in cities should be encouraged and promoted.
On March 18, 2014, the State Council issued National New Urbanization Planning
(2014-2020) (hereinafter referred to as the Planning). It was raised in the Planning that “The
green city construction should be accelerated”. The concept of ecological improvement
should be fully integrated in urban development to build the green mode of production, life
and consumption. The development of industries generated high energy consumption and
emission should be strictly restricted. The resources of land, water and energy should be
intensively and economically utilized, and the cyclic utilization of resources should be
promoted so that the total amount can be controlled and the efficiency can be improved. We
should speed up the construction of renewable energy resources system; promote the
diversified and large-scale application of distributed solar energy, wind energy, biomass
energy and geothermal energy; and increase the utilization proportion of new energy and
renewable energy. We should carry out the action plan of green building; improve the green
building standard and certification system, and expand the range of compulsory execution;
accelerate the energy-saving transformation of the existing buildings; vigorously develop
green building material and energetically boost the industrialization of construction. We
should rationally control vehicle possessing; speed up the promotion and utilization of new
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energy vehicles; improve the condition for walking and cycling trip; and advocate green
transportation. We should carry out the action plan for air pollution prevention and treatment
and launch regional joint prevention, control and treatment so as to improve the urban air
quality. We should improve the waste recycling system and refuse sorting and treatment
system so as to enhance the cyclic utilization and hazard-free treatment of urban solid waste.
We should reasonably define the red line of ecological protection; enlarge urban eco-space;
increase the area of forests, lakes and wetland; turn rural waste lands, contaminated lands and
lands for mining and industry into ecological lands so that the green and ecological corridor
can be built in urbanized areas.
6.
Actively Promote Information Disclosure and Public Engagement, Improve Public
Governance Structure of the Environment
In the annual policy suggestions of CCICED, the problems of environmental legal
construction in China, public engagement and China’s involvement in international
environmental cooperation have always been the focus of attention. It has been the opinion of
CCICED that a complete environmental law, sufficient public engagement and an active
involvement in international environmental cooperation are necessary for promoting China’s
green transformation, improving the air quality, building a beautiful China, and setting up a
responsible power image of China. Over the past year, the Chinese government has made new
exploration and efforts in environmental legislation, information disclosure, public
engagement and international environmental cooperation.
It has been all the more obvious for the Chinese government that information disclosure and
public engagement are the essential elements in the cause of environmental protection. Over
the past year, the Chinese government has achieved good results in steadfastly promoting
environmental information disclosure and public engagement. The amount of major
environmental group incidents has declined. From October 2013 till now, the major group
incidents include the citizen’s opposition to PX project in Maoming Guangdong and the
citizen’s objection to waste incineration plant in Yuhang Hangzhou.
CCICED made it in the policy suggestion of 2013 that “we should further improve and
implement the system of environmental information disclosure”; “improve the public
governance structure of the environment, and establish the green partnership of
government-public-enterprise”; “we should turn the environmental right into citizen’s basic
right by the rule of law, and meanwhile ensure the citizen’s environmental responsibility and
obligation. We should innovate the social administration mechanism for environmental
protection; integrate the various social resources and forces through social organizations;
establish the unblocked and effective communication mechanism and channels with the
government; promote the interested parties in carrying out orderly and effective exchanges,
expressing their appeals and involving pubic decisions in the environment; supervise and
evaluate the environmental administration process and performance in the government and
public departments; carry out self-involving education and enhance environmental
consciousness.” The Chinese government pays more attention to information disclosure and
public engagement in environmental protection. An obvious case in point is the newly revised
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Environmental Protection Law, which contains a special chapter of information disclosure
and public engagement, and clearly stipulates the right to be informed, participation right and
right of supervision of the public. It is required that governments of all levels and the
environmental protection department should timely publicize environmental information,
release the list of enterprises that break the environmental law, and put the information into
the social credit file. The key pollutant discharging units should accurately publicize the
major pollutant, way of discharge, emission concentration and volume, excessive emission
and the construction and performance of prevention facilities so as to be subject to social
supervision. Meanwhile, for the construction projects that have to establish environmental
impact statement, the relative unit should explain the case to the public that maybe affected by
the project and fully seek for opinions. The department responsible for examining and
approving the environmental impact assessment of the project should publicize the whole
document after receiving the environmental impact statement, except the items involving state
secrete and business secret; if there is the construction project that fails to fully take advice
from the public, the relative department should instruct it to do so.
On the October 15, 2013, General Office of the State Council released On Further Enhancing
the Government’s Ability in Information Disclosure, Responding to Public Concerns and
Promoting Government Credibility. It specifies that the various departments should establish
the system of routine press conference and give full play to the role of the government
website as the platform in information disclosure. The departments should take an active
advantage of the new media such as Weibo and Wechat, etc. to enhance the communication
and exchanges with the public so that they can stay actively involved in major hot events.
On the November 14, 2013, the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued Guideline of
Government Information Disclosure on Environmental Impact Assessment of Construction
Project (Trial), with the objective of publicizing widely the Environmental Impact
Assessment Report (chart), Government Commitment Document, Examining and Approving
Document, and the integrity information of environmental impact assessment agencies and
practitioners. Before then, the environmental protection department only publicizes the
abridged edition of the environmental impact assessment report. In order to ensure the
public’s right to be informed and promote the openness and transparency of environmental
impact assessment, the environmental protection department requires that the construction
unit should take the initiative to publicize all the information in environmental impact
statement or charter according to the law, and at the same time add the content that contains
state secrete and business secrete as well as the delete basis and reasons before submitting
environmental impact statement of construction project to the competent department of
environmental protection. When accepting environmental impact statement of construction
project, the competent department of environmental protection should examine the report and
publicize the whole information of the report according to the law. Before making the
approval opinions on the construction project, the competent departments at all levels should
draft the opinions on the approved and disapproved environmental impact report, and inform
the hearing rights of the applicant and the shareholder. After the competent departments of
environmental protection at all levels have made the decision on the approval and disapproval
of the environmental impact report of the construction project, they will open it to the public
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and inform the applicant and shareholder of their administrative review and administrative
litigation rights.
In order to improve the work of environmental information release and policy interpretation
under the new situation, and pragmatically enhance the work of environmental information
disclosure and public opinion guidance, the Ministry of Environmental Protection released On
Further Enhancing the Work of Environmental Information Disclosure and Public Opinion
Guidance at the end of March 2014, which proposes that the environmental protection
departments should focus on the following five tasks. First, to improve the work mechanism
of information disclosure; secondly, to establish a sound information release system of
emergent environmental incident; thirdly, to form key linkage mechanism of environmental
information release and policy interpretation; fourthly, to promote the establishment of expert
interpretation mechanism; and fifthly, to set up media communication and coordination
mechanism. Furthermore, it has presented that the environmental protection departments at all
levels should include the work of information release and public opinion guidance into the
work performance of leading cadres. The evaluation of the performance serves as the
important basis of the comprehensive examination and evaluation of the leading group and
leading cadres.
On the May 22, 2014, the general office of the Ministry of Environmental Protection released
Instructions on Promoting Public Engagement in Environmental Protection in which the
respect and guarantee of the public’s right to be informed, right of participation, expression
and supervision of environment was presented, and source involvement and whole process
involvement were stressed. It also established the five key tasks: to enhance publicity and
mobilization; to promote environmental information disclosure; to make the channel of public
expression and appeal smooth; to improve the laws and regulations; and to give more support
to social organizations of environmental protection. These major tasks fully represent the
policy of the 18th Party Congress and the third plenary session of the 18th Party Congress on
“improving the way of social governance, playing the government’s leading role, encouraging
and supporting social involvement in all aspects, reaching the benign interaction of
government administration, social regulation and residents' self-governance”. The key areas
of public engagement were clearly pointed out, including the formulation of environmental
policies and regulations, environmental decisions, environmental supervision, environmental
impact evaluation and environmental publicity and education.
7.
A Greener Government Performance Examination Mechanism
It was suggested in CCICED in 2013 that “the assessment and examination reward and
punishment mechanism of ecological improvement should be improved as soon as possible.
We should launch the research work of green national economic accounting, and gradually set
up a way of including resource consumption, environmental damage and benefit protection
into the national economy evaluation system. We should take ecological improvement as an
important indicator in the performance evaluation and examination system for leading cadres,
and establish the evaluation mechanism that fully represents economization and
environmental protection, regional difference, industrial and department features as well as
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the public will.”
For a long period of time, the government performance examination mechanism focusing on
GDP has been regarded as the root cause of the party and government leaders’ indifference to
environmental protection. Since the presentation of ecological improvement, the Party Central
Committee and the State Council have been stressing the weight of environmental protection
in government performance examination. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in the
National Organization Working Conference held in June 2013 that government performance
should take both obvious performance and potential performance into consideration, and
adopt the actual performance together with other indicators like people’s livelihood
improvement, social progress and ecological benefits as the important content of examination.
We can never only depend on GDP any more. Decision of the CCCPC on Some Major Issues
Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform passed on the third plenary session of
the 18th Party Congress in November 2013 clearly presented that we should correct the
tendency of merely taking economic growth rate as the only way of evaluating government
performance, and cancel gross regional production examination in areas of restricted
development and key ecologically fragile counties included in the national plan for poverty
alleviation through development.
In December 2013, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee released
Notification on Improving the Government Performance Examination among Local Party and
Government Leader Group and Leading Cadres, which ushered a new way in government
performance examination. It was stipulated that the future government performance
examination of local party and government leaders and leading cadres should not only take
into account the indicators of gross regional production and growth rate, and should not rank
gross regional production and growth rate. The related departments should not merely take
this as the measurement for the development of various provinces (municipalities and
autonomous regions). The party committees at all levels should not simply define the
government performance examination of the leading cadres depending on this. We should
cancel gross regional production examination in areas of restricted development and key
ecologically fragile counties included in the national plan for poverty alleviation through
development. We should take qualified, efficient and sustainable economic development,
people’s livelihood improvement, social harmony and progress, cultural construction,
ecological improvement and party construction as important indicators in the examination and
evaluation. We should intensify the examination of obligatory indicators, and increase the
weight of indicators such as resource consumption, environmental protection, excess
production capacity and safety production. It also required that the accountability method of
actions violating scientific development should be formulated, and the term-end responsibility
auditing should be enhanced. For the reckless actions that cause major damage to national
interests, injure the interests of the masses, severely waste the resources and seriously
destructed the ecological system, we should put them on record, and give organizational
treatment and disciplinary punishment based on the seriousness. Those who have left the
posts should also be investigated for responsibility. It can be projected that with the
implementation of the greener government performance examination mechanism, the
enthusiasm for environmental protection among party and government leaders at all levels
15
will surely be greatly boosted.
In July 2014, Shanxi province released the revised methods of county economy examination
and evaluation, which canceled the indicators of national impoverished county “GDP” and
“GDP growth rate”. 36 counties got rid of “GDP government performance examination”. In
August 2014, after receiving the agreement from the organization department of Fujian
provincial Party committee, Provincial Development and Reform Commission, and the
Provincial Department of Environmental Protection, the efficiency office of Fujian province
released the notification that 34 counties (cities) canceled the gross regional production
examination and prioritized ecological protection and agriculture in performance appraisal.
Ningxia and Hebei province clearly stated that they would cancel the GDP examination in
poverty counties, and take improving the living standard and poverty reduction as the
important factors; Zhejiang province canceled the GDP examination in Chun’an county, the
home of Qiandao Lake, and canceled industrial economy examination in Kaihua county, the
source county of the Qiantang River, but rather implement the examination of putting ecology
and people’s livelihood at first place; the same is true in Guizhou province where canceled
GDP examination in restricted areas for development and ecologically fragile key counties
included in the national plan for poverty alleviation through development on July 1, 2014. In
addition, Shaanxi has lowered the standard for GDP examination. The cities that reach the
average value can be seen as accomplishing the task, and over-fulfillment will not be given
bonus points any more. However, the value is increased in environmental protection indicator,
and over-fulfillment of haze control can be given extra points. Shenyang has also lowered the
examination standards for economic development, canceled the reward of GDP growth rate
and added key work reward for environmental protection. 3
On August 15, 2014, NDRC issued Responsibility Assessment Method for the Goal of
Lowering Carbon Dioxide Emission per Unit of GDP, which states that in order to realize the
goal of lowering carbon intensity set in the 12th Five Year Plan, we should include the
performance of the indicator of lowering carbon dioxide emission in GDP into the overall
evaluation system of economic and social development in various areas (industries) and the
government performance examination system of leaders. This was our first time to examine
carbon intensity. The method is made up of three main parts (the accomplishment of the goal,
tasks and measures, basic work and ability construction) and 13 indicators. The examination
and evaluation have four ranks including excellent, good, qualified and disqualified. The
precondition to be qualified is that the annual lowering goal and accumulated goal of carbon
dioxide emission in GDP are achieved on schedule. The provinces (autonomous regions and
municipalities) that cannot achieve the above two indicators are disqualified even though the
total score may be over 60 points. The examination and evaluation result will be submitted to
the State Council before the end of October each year, and the State Council will announce to
the public after the approval. For the excellent people's government at the provincial level, the
State Council will circulate a notice of commendation, and grant priority in arranging relevant
projects; any disqualified government should make written report to the State Council and
present rectification measures within a time limit in one month after the announcement of the
Jinlei Li: “The Adjustment of Examination in Counties and Cities by Various Provinces, China is Ready to Say
Goodbye to “Only GDP” China News
16
3
result.
It is obvious that, over the past year, be it macro government performance orientation, or the
concrete controlling over carbon emission, the Chinese government performance examination
mechanism has been greener, and the ecological improvement and a beautiful China are
rested on a more reliable mechanism.
8.
Severely Crack Down Violations of Environmental Laws and Promote Enterprises
Law-Abiding
To strengthen legislation and law enforcement remains as a long-term attention for CCICED.
In the 2013 policy recommendations, the CCICED pointed out the need to: (1) strengthen the
legislation for the enterprises to fulfill their environmental and social duties. (2) Enhance the
coordination between the Corporate Law, the Environmental Protection Law, the Law on the
Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers, and the Labour Law; and (3) increase
penalty for illegal enterprises. It suggested that we should promote the construction of local
environmental protection courts and perfect the relevant legal practice. We also need to
support public welfare lawsuit on environmental issues and allow the environmental groups
play their role on supervision. The newly revised Environmental Protection Law further
clarifies the responsibility of enterprises and requires them to set up liability systems. It also
adopts penalties such as daily penalty, administrative detention and joint liability, increasing
the penalty intensity over illegal acts.
In May 2013, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed on the 6th group study of the Political
Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on promoting ecological
improvement that only the strictest system and the most rigorous rule of law can offer reliable
safeguard for ecological improvement. Those who have made blind decisions without taking
into account the ecological environment and caused grave consequences must have lifelong
responsibility for that.
Over the past year, the environmental protection departments at all levels have intensified law
enforcement of environmental protection. On June 1, 2014, 8 ministries and commissions of
the State Council including the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Administration
of Justice jointly launched the 2014 national environmental protection special activity to
punish the enterprises that illegally discharge pollutions and guarantee the health of the public.
The Minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Zhou Shengxian,
announced that in the year 2013, MEP dispatched more than 1.83 million law enforcement
officers, inspected over 710,000 enterprises, checked and punished 6499 cases of
environmental law violation, and supervised 1523 of them. Among them, in checking the
unlawful act of contaminating underground water by discharging waste water in leaching
wells, sewage pits, fractures and karst caves, MEP banned and closed 449 enterprises in
violation of regulations, and ordered 532 enterprises to stop production for rectification; in the
special inspection of air pollution prevention and control, MEP found out 3395 illegal
enterprises, 3690 construction plants and 26000 catering and service companies that fail to
17
reach the environmental standards, and banned and closed 3102 individual workshops. In the
special renovation of pharmaceutical manufactures, MEP checked 4894 pharmaceutical
manufacturers and investigated and treated 157 illegal enterprises. MEP supervised and
handled 18 of them that have seriously violated the environmental law; in launching the
“looking back” action to enterprises involving heavy metal discharge, MEP checked over
10000 enterprises of heavy metal selection and smelt, lead-acid battery, electro-gilding and
leather, and investigated 2079 unlawful enterprises, and ordered 1142 to stop production for
rectification. Through above measures, high incidence trend of heavy metal contamination
has been restrained. 4
Besides the stricter administrative enforcement of law, the judicial office has greatly
intensified the strikes on environmental contamination crimes. In June 2013, the Supreme
People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate released Interpretations on Several Issues
of Applicable Laws for Environmental Contamination Criminal Cases, which lowered the
incrimination threshold of environmental contamination crimes. In December 2013, Opinions
on Enhancing the Coordination between Environmental Protection and the Police Law
Enforcement proposed that the case deportation mechanism should be established and
improved, and the standard of joint enforcement procedure should be set up. The
environmental protection departments and public security departments at all levels should
constantly improve the system of suspected violation of security administration, and the
deportation, hearing and filing system of environmental contamination cases in strict
accordance with the law. The environmental protection departments and public security
departments at all levels should clarify the requirement of responsibility, time limit, procedure
and supervision of case deportation, actively go into the work of case investigation, evidence
collection and law application, and prevent the occurring of “punishment for prison”
according to Provisions on the Deportation of Environmental Cases by Environmental
Protection Administrative Departments ([20087] No.78) as well as the local requirement for
case deportation. In 2013, the environmental protection departments at all levels had deported
706 environmental cases to the police, and the number exceeded the sum total of that of 10
years; the public security agency had heard 637 cases, sentenced 109 of environmental
contamination crimes, arrested 186 criminal offenders.5 According to the statistics of the
Supreme People’s Procuratorate, from June 2013 to May 2014, the national investigating and
prosecuting apparatus have approved the arrest of 459 environmental contamination cases,
799 criminal offenders, and prosecuted 346 cases, 674 people. The number of the cases that
have been handled has added six to seven times.6
Besides the strict strikes on illegal enterprises, the judicial offices at all levels have intensified
the hit on the misconduct of environmental supervision. According to the statistics, from
January to October in 2013, the investigating and prosecuting apparatus have investigated and
handled crimes of dereliction of duty in damaging the ecological environment for 889 cases
Jianrong Qie: “Environmental crimes have been on the rise from last year, and 186 people have arrested and 109
cases have sentenced.” Jurisprudence Daily
5 Jianrong Qie: “Environmental crimes have been on the rise from last year, and 186 people have arrested and 109
cases have sentenced.” Jurisprudence Daily
6 Yi Liu: “Improving Ecological System; from “Rubber Band” to “High Voltage Wires” People's Daily 1st edition
August 26, 2014
18
4
and 1119 people, and among them are the major cases of “Red River Valley” incident in
Luoyang Henan and “milk river” incident in Dongchuan Kunming.7 During the first three
months in 2014, the investigating and prosecuting apparatus has investigated and checked 231
people committing misconduct crimes of damaging ecological environment.8 From April
2013 to April 2014, the investigating and prosecuting apparatus in Guangdong has registered
and investigated 626 people committing misconduct crimes in damaging the ecological
environment, and the amount is more than the total sum of the number from 2010 to 2012.9
At the end of February 2014, the Supreme People's Procuratorate released Work Program of
Launching Special Filing and Supervision on Crimes of Destroying Environmental Resources
and Damaging Food and Drug Safety. The procuratorial organs will launch special filing and
supervision on crimes of damaging environmental resources and destroying food and drug
safety from March to October. They will stay focused to work with administrative
organization for law enforcement and the public security department in checking the crimes
of damaging environmental resources and the food and drug safety. The efforts to supervise
deportation and filing should be intensified and the occurring of punishment for punishment
must be prevented.
In order to enhance the target and efficiency of clean and honest government education in the
environmental protection system, the supervisory bureau of the discipline group of the
Ministry of Environmental Protection has organized and complied the A Warning for Party
Members and Leaders in the Environmental Protection System, which was published by
China Environment Press in January 2014. It records actual events, and analyzes the typical
cases of the environmental protection system in recent years. It tries to provide caution and
enlightenment by exploring the criminal pattern and transformation track of the criminals
from multiple perspectives and making comments on every case. It has about 250,000 words
and 28 typical cases, with Shengxian Zhou, the Minister of the Ministry of Environmental
Protection writing for the preface.
Since the foundation of the first ecological protection court in the people’s court of Qingzhen
City Guiyang in 2007, up to July 2014, there have been more than 130 environmental
protection courts in 16 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). They have
accumulated beneficial experience in the judgment of environmental jurisdiction, especially
in the effort to promoting the “icebreaking” of environment public interests litigation.
In order to address the problems of “filing difficulty” and evidence collection difficulty” in
environmental resources cases and further intensify the judgment of environmental resources
cases, the Supreme People's Court announced the foundation of the environmental resources
trial division on July 3, 2014. The establishment of the trial division will have a positive and
profound impact on promoting and safeguarding the complete and accurate implementation of
environmental resources laws, unifying the scale of judicial adjudication, pragmatically
Bo Peng: “Strict Investigation of Misconduct Crimes by Investigating and Prosecuting Apparatus” People's
Daily, Jan. 8, 2014
8 Ridan Xu: “Protecting the Blue Sky Checking Crimes of Damaging Environmental Resources, Procuratorial
Organs the Icebreaker” The Procuratorate Daily May 8, 2014
9 Bo Peng: “Strict Investigation of Misconduct Crimes by Investigating and Prosecuting Apparatus” People's
Daily, 8th Jan.2014
Xiangshan Zhu, Yunfei Chen: “Investigating and Prosecuting Apparatus in Guangdong has checked 626 people
committing crimes in damaging the environment.” The Procuratorate Daily 14th April 2014
19
7
safeguarding the environmental interests and rights of the public and further containing the
deterioration of the environmental situation. With the foundation of the environmental
resources judicial division of the Supreme Judicial Court, the relevant environmental
resources judicial organs of the Court of different levels will be set up to make the appeal
channel for environmental resources cases smoother.
The main responsibilities of the environmental resources judicial division of the Supreme
Judicial Court include: to judge the civil cases involving environmental contamination
infringement disputes of the air, water and land during the first and second trial, the civil
cases involving ownership disputes of geological mineral protection and exploitation, and the
civil cases involving environmental resources disputes of the protection, exploitation and
utilization of natural resources like forests and grasslands; to investigate on the civil cases of
environmental resources that refuse to obey the effective judgment of the lower court, and
bring to trial according to the law or instruct the lower court to review; to guide the lower
court in judging the civil cases involving environmental resources; to research and draft the
relative judicial interpretations, etc.
On the same day, the Supreme People's Court published Opinions on Enhancing the Judicial
Work of Environmental Resources and Providing the Judicial Safeguard for Ecological
Improvement, which made instructive stipulations on environmental civil public interest
litigation, and enhancing the construction of environmental resources judicial organs, teams
and mechanisms.
9.
Further Address Air Pollution and Other Prominent Environmental Problems
In 2013, CCICED suggested to make great efforts to address serious environmental problems
such as the pollution of air, water and soil, aiming at meeting public demands for favorable
environmental quality.
Presently, air pollution has become the most concerned environmental issue and is also the
focus of environmental protection for government at all levels. In the 2013 policy proposal,
CCICED pointed out that fully meeting public demand for sound environmental quality is the
basic solution to relieve the stress in the relationship between the environment and the society.
“In implementing the prevention and controlling of air pollution, the central government
should focus on supervision and coordination of works in following aspects: firstly, progress
of local governments in taking concrete measures and application of stricter assessment and
accountability; secondly, relevant central departments’ fulfillment of responsibilities,
especially supporting policies in investment, revenue, tax, finance, price, trade and
technology; thirdly, joint action of local governments within an area.”
On January 7, 2013, Ministry of Environmental Protection signed Goal Responsibilities for
Air Pollution Prevention and Control with 31 provinces to define their respective goals and
work focuses in improving air quality. Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei has set the goal of reduction
by 25%; Shanxi, Shandong, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang reduction by 20%; Guangdong
and Chongqing reduction by 15%; and Inner Mongolia reduction by 10%. Other 20 provinces
(regions and cities) take annual average decline in PM10 concentration as an important
20
assessment item. Based on the environmental quality of different provinces, such goals may
be graded into 5 levels. The provinces where annual average concentration of PM10 is far
below the new secondary AQ standard should maintain continuous improvement; while
provinces where the annual average concentration of PM10 is close to or beyond the
secondary standard should take measures to get reduction by 5%, 10%, 12% and 15% subject
to the degree of excess.
In June 2014, the office of cooperation team in charge of air pollution prevention and control
in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas issued 2014 Emphasis on Air Pollution
Prevention and Control of Year 2014 in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Surrounding Areas based
on ”National Ten”. Unlike other plans, it puts a greater eye on longer future and has
instructiveness in a longer term. Besides, in 2014, national special emission limit of air
pollutants will firstly be applied in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, to research the economic
policies for controlling the use of motor vehicle. It indicates that traffic jam fees and pollution
discharge fees might be charged in this region.
To carry out the Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control, Action Plan for Energy
Conservation, Emission Reduction and Low-carbon Development in 2014-2015 and
Implementing Rules of the Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control in Beijing,
Tianjin, Hebei and Surrounding areas, and to push forward the control over air pollution in
major industries, on July 25, 2014, MEP (Ministry of Environment Protection) issued
Countermeasures for Time Limited Treatment of Air Pollution in Major Industries in Beijing,
Tianjin, Hebei and Surrounding Areas. It clearly pointed out that, time limited treatment will
be carried out in industries of electricity, steel, cement and sheet glass (hereinafter referred to
as four industries) in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas. 429 enterprises and 777
production lines or machine sets are required to have pollutant treatment that meets the
emission standards and amount controlling requirements; construction and operation of
facilities, and pollutant removal efficiency need to meet relevant national standards; the
emission of major air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and dust should be
reduced by 30% in comparison with 2013.
In order to provide effective support to air pollution prevention and control and to fully carry
out Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control referred to as national “Ten
Measures for Air”, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and Ministry of
Environmental Protection (MEP) organize research institutions and experts to review and
evaluate scientific achievements and their application in air pollution prevention and
controlling since the 11th Five-Year Plan on the basis of the 12th Five-year Special Plan for
Blue Sky Project. On March 3, 2013, Compilation of Advanced Technologies in Prevention
and Control of Air Pollution was released.
To further improve efficient and clean development of coal power, and reduce air pollution,
on September 12, 2014, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued
2014-2020 Action Plan for Upgrading and Transforming Energy Conservation and Emission
Reduction in Coal Power Industry. It requires the newly built coal-fired generating units
(including units under construction and that have covered in national plan of thermal power
construction) to be equipped with desulfurization, denitration and dedusting facilities, and no
21
flue gas bypass channel should be arranged. Air pollutant emissions from newly built
coal-fired generating units in eastern region (including Liaoning, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei,
Shandong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan) are kept at the
discharge limit for gas turbine units, which means when the content of oxygen is below 6%,
emission concentration of dust, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide should be respectively
lower than 10 mg/m³, 35 mg/m³and 50 mg/m³; newly built units in the central region should
be at or close to the discharge limit; and the newly built units in western region are
encouraged to be close to or at the discharge limit. Removal of other air pollutants is
encouraged to reduce the discharge of sulfur trioxide, mercury and arsenic.
In policy suggestions for 2013, CCICED said, “Public procurement should give preference to
products from green supply chain. And governmental bidding system should be modified to
add new energy and low emission vehicles into the purchasing list, so that it can become a
major assessment index for legal procurement standard.” To accelerate the development of
energy conservation and environmental protection industries, and to promote prevention and
control over air pollution, on July 13, 2014, National Government Offices Administration
together with other four ministries jointly issued the Implementation Plan for Government
Agencies and Public Institutions in Purchasing New Energy Vehicle, which sets a schedule
and route map to change official vehicles into new energy vehicles. As for how to achieve
these goals, 14 concrete measures are proposed in the Plan. To be specifically, government
agencies and public institutions may be granted subsidies to purchase new energy vehicles,
and the car price should not exceed 180,000 Yuan after deducting the subsidy; local
government should consider charging facilities for new energy vehicles as public
infrastructure and include them in the overall plan for city construction; new energy vehicles
should be given preferential policies in addition to the formulation and implementation of
such systems as traffic control based on vehicle numbers, license quota auction, car quota
index and prior traffic. It is introduced that the plan also regulates the quantitative assessment
feedback supervision. It proposes that from 2015, Energy Conservation Departments of
Public Institutions in all provinces and cities are required to summarize information of
new-energy cars of the previous year according to annual statistics, such as the sales volume,
accumulated mileage, energy consumption and expenses, and report them to National
Government Offices Administration. Meanwhile, the Scheme also regulates that the
institutions with slow working progress and that failed to achieve the procurement ratio
should be publicized, and the institutions that practice fault and cause adverse impacts should
be ordered to make rectification and be traced with the accountability of related leaders.
To ensure the fulfillment of goals defined in Goal Responsibilities for Air Pollution
Prevention and Control, on May 27, 2014, General Office of the State Council issued Method
for Evaluating the Implementation Progress of Air Pollution Prevention and Control Plan
(Trial). It put forward that, reduction rate of annual PM2.5 concentration will be deemed as
the performance indicator in assessment for places with complex air pollution such as Beijing,
Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Chongqing;
while reduction rate of annual PM10 concentration will be considered as the performance
indicator for other provinces (regions and cities) in assessment. As an important policy
document to support the implementation of Air Pollution Prevention and Control Plan
22
(referred to as national “Ten Measures for Air”), the Assessment Method defines the
responsibility subject and assessment object of the Plan, and establishes the assessment idea
focusing on air quality improvement, marking the establishment of the tightest system of air
management responsibility and assessment in China. The Method defines two indicators for
assessment, namely performance of air quality improvement and the major task of controlling
air pollution, and applies centesimal system for two indicators. It chooses measures that have
remarkable effects on air quality, and set up a measurable, evaluable and assessable indicator
system for the performance of air pollution prevention and controlling, including adjustment
and optimization of industrial structure, urban dust control, vehicle pollution control, building
energy efficiency and heating measurement, investment in air pollution control and
atmospheric management. After examined by the State Council, the assessment result is
reported to Organization Department of CCCPC, as an important basis for comprehensively
assessing the performance of leading group and leaders of local governments. It applies the
philosophy of “reward for good performance and punishment for bad performance”. Places
with excellent performance will be rewarded with more financial supports; while for place fail
to meet requirements, financial supports will be cut. Those who fail in the assessment will be
investigated for responsibilities.
According to the requirements in the Method for Evaluating Implementation Progress of Air
Pollution Prevention and Control Plan (Trial), on July 18, 2014, MEP, NDRC, Ministry of
Industry and Information (MIIT), Ministry of Finance (MOF), Ministry of Hosing and
Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) and National Energy Administration (NEA) issued
Implementing Rules of the Trial Assessment Method for the Implementation of the Plan of
Preventing and Controlling Air Pollution (hereinafter referred to as Implementing Rules).
According to the scoring system in the Implementing Rules, the air quality improvement and
the major task of air pollution prevention and control will be respectively graded with the
centesimal system. Score of 10 provinces (regions and cities) in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei
regions and surrounding areas, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta will be the lower
one; and that of other provinces will be result of the assessment on air quality improvement.
The assessment results will be classified into 4 grades: Excellent, Good, Pass and Fail. Over
90 scores will be graded as Excellent; 70-90 scores (including 70) as Good; 60-70 scores
(including 60) as Pass; and below 60 scores as Fail. As the Implementing Rules specified,
fulfillment of the goal to reduce annual concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 will be taken as
important basis for evaluating air quality improvement. If the concentration of the two
indicators is increased in comparison with that of last year, it will be given 0 score. In the
respect of grading the fulfillment of air pollution prevention and control, 10 specific
indicators are defined in the Implementing Rules.
With the joint effort of local governments, situation of some areas with poor air quality have
been improved. For instance, in the first half of 2014, concentrations of the major air
pollutants in Beijing have been decreased. Average concentration of PM2.5 is 91.6μg/m³,
down 11.2% year on year; PM10, SO2 and NO2 are respectively dropped 1.3%, 16.4% and
4.9% year on year; there were 25 days suffered heavy air pollution, 15 days less than the same
period of last year. However, 91.6μg/m³, the average concentration of PM2.5, is still far from
23
the “new national standard” of 35μg/m³. 10 Through the measures of reducing coal
consumption, dust suppression, emission reduction, migrating enterprises and improving
vegetation coverage, air quality in Shijiazhuang has been remarkably improved. Till August 7,
2014, there were 55 days with good air quality, 5 days with Level I air quality and 50 days
with Level II air quality. There were 43 days with generally good air quality in the first half
year, which equals to the number of last year, showing an increase of 14.4%. 11
10. Participating in the Global Climate Change Solution and Cooperation
Climate change is closely related to energy consumption and environmental protection. The
CCICED, as a policy debate platform for the Chinese and international experts, has always
been concerned about the solution and adaption of climate change. In 2013, the CCICED
focused on the long term and suggested that the global climate change solution should be
considered as an important part of the national ecological civilization construction. It
proposed that the Chinese government should start to study and determine the economic,
social and resource conditions in the 13th Five Year Plan period, and establish the mid- to
long-term objectives and solutions for green development, environmental protection, emission
reduction, and climate change in the future 5-10 years.
As a big responsible country, China has always been active in cooperation of tackling climate
change.
On November 5, 2014, NDRC issued 2013 Report of China’s Policies and Actions for
Addressing Climate Change, which gives a full introduction of China’s policies, measures,
actions and achievements in tackling the climate change. The Report is divided into 9 parts,
including the situation of addressing climate change, improving top-level planning, system
and mechanism, mitigating climate change, adapting to climate change, developing
low-carbon pilot project, strengthening fundamental capacity building, participation of the
whole society, playing a constructive role in international negotiations, and enhancing
international exchanges and cooperation. It is said in the Report that as China is facing a new
situation in addressing climate change, Chinese government has enhanced strategic researches
and top-level designs, and further improved the management system and working mechanism;
thus, the status of addressing climate change in national economy and society has been
remarkably raised.
On November 18, 2013, Xie Zhenghua, Deputy Director of NDRC, announced at United
Nations Climate Change Conference in Warsaw, Poland, that National Strategy to Adapt
Climate Change compiled by 9 departments including NDRC, MOF and Ministry of
Agriculture (MOA) with more than two years’ efforts is officially released. It is China’s first
strategic planning specific to adapting climate change. On the basis of evaluating current and
Yu Ronghua, “air quality has improved in the first half of the year in Beijing; PM2.5 concentration has fallen
11.2%.” Published in People.cn,
http://society.people.com.cn/n/2014/0710/c1008-25266601.html, the last visit time: August 31, 2014.
11 Zhai Xiangzhe, “Shijiazhuang sees a continuous air quality improvement with 55 good days so far”, Published
in Xinhuanet,
http://www.he.xinhuanet.com/news/2014-08/08/c_1111988544.htm, the last visit time: August 31, 2014.
24
10
future influence over China of climate change, it defines national guiding ideology and
principles, and will integrate climate change adaption into the process of economic and social
development. China’s goal of adapting climate change till 2020 is to remarkably strengthen
adaptability, fully implement major tasks and basically form a regional pattern of adaption.
On November 20 and 21, 2013, during the 16th Meeting of Leaders of China and UN,
Strategic Planning for China-EU Cooperation in 2020 was worked out. Cooperation of two
sides in the field of climate change include: (1) jointly building a strategic policy framework
for green and low-carbon development to address global climate change, improve
environment quality and promote cooperation of green industries. (2) Promoting carbon
trading market and utilizing market mechanism to address climate change through
China-Euro cooperation project of building carbon trading ability; enhancing China-EU
practical cooperation in low-carbon city, low-carbon community, low-carbon industrial areas
and the controlling of GHG emission; developing low-carbon technology to promote the
extensive use of renewable energy and reduce fossil energy consumption and relevant
emission. (3) Enhancing cooperation in aviation environmental protection and sustainable
development. Exploring how to deal with influence of aviation over the environment,
including building China-EU long-term cooperation mechanism for energy conservation and
emission reduction in civil aviation industry; promoting research and development of
environment friendly aviation emission reduction technology; enhancing understanding about
the influence of aviation emission to provide reference for policy-making; concentrating on
aviation management innovation that controls and reduces aviation emission; R&D of
sustainable bio-fuel, and promotion of its application; design, construction and efficient
operation of green airport; methodology and technology of quantitative analysis on the
influences of emission reduction measures.
In January 2014, Notice about GHG Emission Report of Major Enterprises by NDRC defines
that the subject of liabilities should be enterprises, public institutions and independent
accounting units regarded as legal person, with GHG emission equaling to 13,000 tons of CO2
or energy consumption of 5,000 tons of standard coal in 2010. The major units that are
included in the report list should, on the basis of their actual emission condition, report the
emission of CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs and SF6. The accounting and report details should
refer to the Notice about Guidance for Accounting and Report of GHG Emission in 10 Sectors
(No. 2013 [2526] by NDRC Climate).
On February 15, 2014, MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) issued China-US Joint Statement
on Climate Change. In light of the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change and
its worsening impacts, and the related issue of air pollution from burning fossil fuels, China
and the United States recognize the urgent need for action to meet these twin challenges. Both
sides reaffirm their commitment to contribute significantly to tackling the challenge
confronted in the whole world in 2015. Accordingly, China and the United States will work
together, within the vehicle of the China-U.S. Climate Change Working Group (CCWG)
launched last year, to collaborate through enhanced policy dialogue, including the sharing of
information regarding their respective post-2020 plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Regarding practical cooperative actions, it is mentioned in the statement that the two sides
have reached agreement on the implementation plans on the five initiatives launched under
25
the CCWG, including Emission Reductions from Heavy Duty and Other Vehicles, Smart
Grids, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage, Collecting and Managing Greenhouse Gas
Emissions Data, and Energy Efficiency in Buildings and Industry, and commit to devote
significant efforts and resources to secure concrete results by the Sixth China-U.S. Strategic
and Economic Dialogue in 2014.
On April 2, 2014, Chinese Government issued China’s EU Policies to Deepen China-Euro
Strategic Partnership, which declares EU policy goal in a new era and draws cooperation
blueprint for future 5 to 10 years. The Section VIII of the document, “Cooperation in Climate
Change, Energy, Environmental Protection, Water Conservation and Ocean”, intends to
promote negotiation and cooperation in climate change through ministerial dialogue
mechanism and China-Euro climate change partnership, adheres to principles and rules of
United Nations Framework Convention so as to establishing equal and efficient international
system, and enhance practical cooperation in low-carbon development, market mechanism,
low-carbon urbanization and ability building.
On June 17, 2014, during Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to the UK, two sides signed the
China-UK Joint Statement on Climate Changes, which was the first joint statement on climate
changes reached by and between China and UK. Two countries recognize that the Paris
Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC in 2015 represents a pivotal moment in this global
effort, and will work together to build the global consensus necessary to adopt in Paris a
protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the
Convention applicable to all Parties. Both sides underline the importance for all countries to
communicate their nationally determined contributions well in advance of COP21, in
accordance with the decisions taken in Warsaw. The UK and China also commit to working
together in support of the UN Secretary General, and to maintain the momentum through to
Paris in 2015.
On September 17, 2014, the State Council approved the 2014-2020 National Plan for
Addressing Climate Changes and decided to advance along a sustainable win-win road for
developing economy and addressing climate changes that suits for Chinese condition. We
must adhere to principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, equality and
respective capability, deepen international exchanges and cooperation and work together with
the global community to address climate change. By implementing the plan, China will
reduce its carbon emission intensity, namely emissions per unit of GDP, by 40% to 45% by
2020 from the 2005 level. It also aims to bring the proportion of non-fossil fuels to about 15%
of its total primary energy consumption. Forest coverage and stock will be respectively
increased by 40 million hectares and 1.3 billion m³. Low-carbon pilots will make remarkable
progress; ability to adapt climate change will be significantly improved; important
achievements will be made in ability building; and international exchanges and cooperation
will be extensively carried out. We will strive for green, low-carbon and cyclic development
to contribute to joint efforts in addressing climate change.
The United States intends to achieve an economy-wide target of reducing its emissions by
26%-28% below its 2005 level by 2025 and to make best efforts to reduce its emissions by
28%. China intends to achieve the peaking of CO2 emissions around 2030 and to make best
26
efforts to peak earlier and intends to increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy
consumption to around 20% by 2030. Both sides intend to continue to work to increase
ambition over time.
11. Conclusion
Policy recommendations that CCICED has dedicated great efforts to developing in past years
have been adopted to a large extent this year with the Decision and the new environmental
law. Especially with respect to such recommendations as environmental instruments and
economic tools to control pollution, governance systems and legislation, the past year has
seen great advancement. This will lay a consolidated foundation for future policy.
It is worth mentioning that CCICED is enlarging its influence in encouraging improved policy
practice in the past year by taking the opportunity presented by APEC’s meetings in China in
2014. CCICED took advantage of the APEC platform to disseminate its knowledge and
experience in Green Supply Chains. Over the past several years, CCICED has been
committed to promote the construction of green supply chains, and has established pilot
projects in Tianjin and Shanghai to promote the practice of green supply chains. Faced with
the rapid development of regional economic cooperation and development, CCICED, on the
basis of a large number of theoretical studies and of pilot experience, seized the unique
opportunity to promote a green regional supply chain. In 2014, APEC Trade Ministers agreed
to promote the construction of the Asia-Pacific green supply chain network, and to
concentrate on trade facilitation in the Asia-Pacific region. On November 11th, 2014, the 22nd
APEC Economic Leaders’ meeting passed the Beijing Agenda for an Integrated, Innovative
and Interconnected Asia-Pacific to lay the foundation for the establishment of the APEC
Cooperation Network on Green Supply Chain. The document endorsed the establishment of
the first pilot center of APEC Cooperation Network on Green Supply Chain in Tianjin, China,
and encouraged other economics to establish pilot centers and actively advance related work.
27
ANNEX 1 the Relevance of CCICED Policy Recommendations with Policy progress in
2013-2014
Year
CCICED Policy Suggestions
Progress
2009
To achieve the goal of low-carbon
economy, China need to, on the basis
of technological innovation and
market mechanism and system
building, gradually explore and set up
voluntary carbon-trading system,
promote carbon financing and
technology introduction, and drive the
development of low-carbon economy
through market mechanism.
In 2013, carbon trading pilots were
started in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin,
Chongqing, Hubei, Guangdong and
Shenzhen.
Till June, 2014, all 7 pilots have worked
out carbon trading management method.
Basic law framework of carbon trading is
initially set up.
On April 29, 2014, State Forestry
Administration (SFA) issued Guiding
Opinion for Promoting Forestry Carbon
Trading to guide the trade of forestry
carbon sink projects under Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM) in
various regions, promote voluntary trade
of carbon sink, and especially explore the
carbon sink trade under the carbon
trading system.
On August 6, 2014, Office of the State
Council issued Guidance Opinion for
Further Promoting Pilot Project for Paid
Use and Trading for Emission Right. It
plans to finish verification of emission
right for current emitting units in all
pilots by the end of 2015, and the
verification will be conducted every five
year. Compensated use of emission right
and emission trading system will be
basically set up by 2017 to lay a
foundation for extensive promotion.
2011
Enhance the building of monitoring,
target and assessment system for
energy conservation and emission
reduction, tighten assessment of
energy conservation performance and
improve system of reward and
28
In January of 2013, approved by the State
Council, MEP, National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS), NDRC and Ministry of
Supervision (MOS) jointly issued
Measurement of the Amount of Major
Pollutants in the 12th Five-Year Period
penalty.
and Supervision Method of Major
Pollution Reduction in the 12th Five-Year
Period.
In May of 2013, MEP issued Goal
Responsibility of Major Pollution
Reduction in the 12th Five-Year Period.
In August of 2013, MEP declared that it
would apply environmental impact
assessment and limited approval to
PetroChina and Sinopec due to their
failure in pollution reduction task for
2012.
On May 27, 2014, the Office of State
Council issued Method for Evaluating the
Implementation Progess of Air Pollution
Prevention and Control (Trial). Annual
PM2.5 concentration reduction will be
the performance indicator for places with
complex air pollution such as Beijing,
Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas,
Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta
and
Chongqing;
annual
PM10
concentration reduction will be the
performance indicator for other provinces
(regions and cities).
On July 18, 2014, MEP, NDRC, MIIT,
MOF, MOHURD and NEA issued
Implementing Rules of the Trial Method
for Evaluating the Implementation
Progress of Air Pollution Prevention and
Control. The air quality improvement and
the focuses of air pollution prevention
and control will be respectively graded.
2011
2012
Promote the construction of the green
supply chain, and establish the Centre
for Promotion of the Green Supply
Chain.
Establish local green supply chain
pilots in Tianjin and Shanghai,
promote the construction of the
Tianjin Green Supply Chain Center.
29
On November 11th, 2014, the 22nd APEC
Economic Leaders’ meeting passed the
Beijing Agenda for an Integrated,
Innovative
and
Interconnected
Asia-Pacific. The Beijing Agenda agreed
to establish the APEC Cooperation
Network on Green Supply Chain. It also
endorsed the establishment of the first
pilot center of APEC Cooperation
Network on Green Supply Chain in
Tianjin, China, and encouraged other
economies to establish the pilot centers
and advance related work actively.
2012
Work out sustainable urban planning On March 17, 2014, the State Council
and building sustainable urbanization issued 2014-2020 National Planning for
mode that are suitable for regional New Urbanization.
differentiated characteristics.
2013
System of reward and penalty for
assessing
ecological
civilization
construction needs to be perfected as
soon as possible. It is suggested to
start research in the accounting of
green national economy and gradually
build the method of including energy
consumption, environmental damage
and conservation benefits into the
assessment of national economy.
Concepts of ecological civilization
need to be reflected in performance
assessment of local officials. An
assessment system is needed that
involves environmental performance,
regional difference, features of
industries and sectors and public will.
In May of 2013, during CPC Central
Committee Political Bureau’s sixth
collective learning, Xi Jinping pointed
out that we need to build accountability
system to have held accountable those
who ignore the environment in
decision-making and cause serious
consequences even after they retire from
the position.
In November of 2013, Decision of the
Central Committee of the Communist
Party of China on Some Major Issues
Concerning Comprehensively Deepening
the Reform adopted at the Third Plenary
Session of the 18th Central Committee,
clearly pointed out that, we need to
correct the bias towards simply focus on
economic growth to assess work
performance
and
cancel
GDP
examination in restricted area and key
counties for national poverty alleviation
and development with ecological
fragility.
In December of 2013, Organization
Department of the CPC issued
Notification about Improving the
Assessment of Leading Group and
Leaders of Local Government, which set
a new direction for work performance
assessment.
On August 15, 2014, NDRC issued the
Method for Assessing CO2 Emission
Reduction of Per Unit GDP. According to
30
the method, performance in reducing
CO2 emission for GDP will be included
into comprehensive assessment system of
local (industries) economic and social
development and examination system for
officials, to ensure the achievement of
carbon intensity reduction goal in the
12th Five-Year Plan.
2013
The amendment of Environmental
Protection Law needs to be speeded
up to meet the requirements of
ecological civilization construction
and become the basic law of
environmental protection in China.
And the supporting special laws need
to be legislated and revised.
On April 23, 2014, NPC Standing
Committee adopted the amendment of
Environmental Protection Law. And
China will continue to promote the
amendment of Law on the Prevention and
Control of Atmospheric Pollution and
Law on the Prevention and Control of
Water Pollution.
2013
Government annual report submitted
to corresponding people’s congress
should attach equal importance to
environment, economy and the
society.
In article 27 of the new Environmental
Protection Law, it is stipulated that
people’s governments above county level
shall report environmental condition and
performance in environmental protection
to the people’s congress or the standing
committee of the people’s congress at the
corresponding level, promptly report
major environmental accident to the
standing committee of the people’s
congress at the corresponding level and
be subject to supervision in accordance
with the law.
2013
We need to enhance the supporting
laws and regulations for enterprises to
fulfill their environmental and social
duties, enhance coordination of
company
law,
environmental
protection law and Law on the
Protection of the Rights and Interests
of Consumers, and tighten penalty for
illegal enterprises. We should promote
the
construction
of
local
environmental protection court and
perfect relevant legal practice. We
31
The newly revised Environmental
Protection
Law
further
clarifies
responsibility of enterprises and requires
them to set up responsibility system. It
adopts penalties such as daily penalty,
administrative detention and joint
liability, increasing the penalty intensity
over illegal acts. In July of 2014, there
were 130 environmental protection courts
in 16 provinces (regions and cities). On
July, 2014, the supreme people’s court
announced then establishment of court
specifically for environmental resources
need to support public welfare lawsuit
on
environment
and
allow
environmental group play its role of
supervision.
law suits. The 4th plenary session of the
18th Central Committee of the CPC
adopted the Decision on Major Issues
Concerning
the
Comprehensive
Advancement of the Rule of Law, which
laid out a strategy to strengthen the legal
basis for enterprises’ social responsibility.
Public procurement should give
preference to products from green
supply chain. And bidding of
government procurement should be
modified to include new energy and
low emission vehicles into purchasing
list and urge it to be a major
assessment
index
for
legal
procurement standard.
On July 13, 2014, five ministries
including the National Government
Offices Administration, jointly issued the
Implementation Scheme for the Purchase
of New Energy Cars by Government
Organizations and Public Institutions,
which defined a schedule and route map
for government vehicle to change into
new energy.
The public governance structure
needs to be improved to build a
government-public-enterprise green
partnership;
responsibility
of
enterprises should be strengthened;
environmental rights should be
prescribed as fundamental rights of
citizens by law and the corresponding
environmental responsibilities and
duties for citizens should be defined.
The 2014 newly revised Environmental
Protection Law explicitly stipulates
citizen’s
right,
responsibility
of
enterprises and welfare lawsuit of NGO.
2013
Focus on the challenges of resources
and environment in urbanization and
explore the mode for green
urbanization.
On March 18, 2014, the State Council
issued National New Urbanization
Planning
(2014-2020)
(hereinafter
referred to as the Planning), which
proposed to speed up green city
construction.
2013
Encourage and promote green travel Reasonably control the number of
in cities.
vehicles, speed up promotion and
application of new energy car, improve
conditions for walking and biking, and
advocate green travel.
2013
2013
32
33
ANNEX 2 Progress in Chinese Major Policy on Environment and Development in 2013
In 2013, the Communist Party of China (CPC) held the important 3rd Plenary Session of the
18th Central Committee of the CPC and adopted the Decision of the CCCPC on Some Major
Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform (hereinafter referred to as the
Decision). The Decision defines targets, methods, timeframe and road map for the
comprehensive deepening reform in China’s economic, political, cultural, society and
ecological civilization. In terms of ecological civilization progress, the Decision proposes to
deepen ecological civilization, speed up the establishment of ecological civilization system,
and improve the system and mechanism dedicated to national land development, resource
conservation and ecological environmental protection, all of which should be carried out
closely centered on the target of building a beautiful China, so as to push forward the
formation of a new modernization pattern for harmonious development between human and
the nature. Therefore, the Decision provides a collection of concrete reform solutions to point
out the direction for ecological civilization construction in the next phase in China.
Since last year, Chinese governments and authorities at all levels have taken active part in
exploring new ways for environmental protection under the guidance of ecological
civilization, and have made significant achievements in pollution prevention and control as
well as in ecological protection.
1.
New Progress in Environment and Development in 2013
1.1 Economic and Social Development
The year 2013 was the first year for the new government to perform its functions in
accordance with the law. What the government faces are arduous and formidable tasks.
Confronting with such complicated situation as difficult recovery of global economy, severity
of economic downturn at home, frequent natural disasters, and interwoven contradictions, the
Party Central Committee and the State Council unite and lead the people of all nationalities to
cope with challenges in a relaxed and confident way, and strive to overcome tough problems.
With such strong efforts, major expected targets for annual economic and social development
have been successfully attained, and remarkable achievements have been made in reform and
opening up and socialist modernization. In addition, the national economy has seen a fast and
steady growth. Specifically speaking, the gross domestic product (GDP) reached 56.9 trillion
yuan, an increase of 7.7% over the previous year. The rise in the consumer price index (CPI)
was kept at 2.6%. The registered urban unemployment rate was kept at 4.1% and 13.1 million
urban jobs were additionally created, hitting a record high. Total imports
and exports exceeded US 4 trillion dollars, reaching a new height.12 Government revenue has
been kept a steady growth. Specifically speaking, public revenues for the whole year totaled
up to 12.9143 trillion yuan, increased by 10.1% equaling to 1.1889 trillion yuan; among
which, tax revenue read 11.0497 trillion yuan, increased by 9.8% equaling to 988.3 billion
Keqiang: Report on the Work of the Government delivered at the 2nd Session of the 12th National People’s
Congress on March 5, 2014, http://www.gov.cn/guowuyuan/2014-03/05/content_2629550.htm, final visit time:
Aug. 14, 2014.
12Li
34
yuan. Foreign exchange reserve continued to increase. The national foreign exchange reserve
hit US 3.8213 trillion dollars by the end of 2013, an increase of US 509.7 billion dollars year
on year. The exchange rate of RMB against US dollar was 1:6.0969 at the end of the year, a
rise of 3.1%.13
1.2 Progress in Energy Saving and Emission Reduction
The targets of energy saving and emission reduction in 2013 were to reduce energy
consumption of per unit of GDP by more than 3.7% and lessen the total emission of sulfur
dioxide (SO2), chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen and nitrogen oxide (NO2)
respectively by 2%, 2%, 2.5% and 3% in comparison with that of 2012.14
In 2013, emissions of SO2, NOx, COD and ammonia nitrogen were reduced by 3.5%, 4.7%,
2.9% and 3.1% respectively on a year on year basis.15 The national energy consumption of
GDP per ten thousand yuan dropped by 3.7%.16 The annual targets were completely attained.
In addition, water consumption of GDP per ten thousand yuan in 2013 reached 121m3, 6.5%
lower than the previous year, and water consumption of industrial value-added per ten
thousand yuan totaled up to 68 m3, declined by 5.7%.17 In urban areas, the daily sewage
treatment capacity is increased by 14 million tons; 190 kilowatts coal-fired units were
equipped with denitration facilities, accounting for more than 50% of the total units; capacity
expansion and renovation was carried out for desulphurization facilities equipped with 5
million kilowatts coal-fired units, accounting for over 90% of the total units in coal-fired
power plant; flue gas bypasses of 150-million-kilowatt unit in active service were dismantled,
accounting for 37% of the total thermal power units; and rate of new dry cement denitration
was up to 60%.18
Compared with 2010, the national energy consumption per unit of GDP and CO2 emission
intensity in 2013 fell by 9.03% and 10.68% respectively; and total emissions of COD, SO2,
ammonia nitrogen and NOx shrank by 7.8%, 9.9%, 7.1%, and 2.0% respectively.19
According to the figures released by the National Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC) in Aug. 2014, the energy consumption per unit of GDP was dropped by 4.2% on a
year on year basis in the first half year of 2014, higher than the expected annual target of
13National
Bureau of Statistics: Statistical Communiquéof the People's Republic of China on the 2013 National
Economic and Social Development, http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201402/t20140224_514970.html, final visit
time: Aug. 2, 2014.
14 Notices of the National Development and Reform Commission on Enlarging Intensity of Efforts to Ensure the
Targets and Tasks of Energy Saving and Emission Reduction for 2013 (No. HZ[2013]1585 by NDRC).
15 The Ministry of Environmental Protection: Emission Reduction of Main Pollutants cited from Communiqueéof
the
People's
Republic
of
China
on
the
2013
Environmental
Condition,
http://jcs.mep.gov.cn/hjzl/zkgb/2013zkgb/201406/t20140605_276480.htm, final visit time: Aug. 2, 2014.
16 National Bureau of Statistics: Statistical Communiqueéof the People's Republic of China on the 2013 National
Economic and Social Development, http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201402/t20140224_514970.html, final visit
time: Aug. 2, 2014.
17 National Bureau of Statistics: Statistical Communiquéof the People's Republic of China on the 2013 National
Economic and Social Development, http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201402/t20140224_514970.html, final visit
time: Aug. 2, 2014.
18 Zhou Shengxian: Deepening the Implementation of the Spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 18 th CPC
Central Committee to Advance the Construction of a Beautiful China Driven through Reform and
Innovation--Speech delivered at the 2014 Working Conference of National Environmental Protection,
http://www.zhb.gov.cn/zhxx/hjyw/201401/t20140113_266280.htm, final visit time: Aug. 2, 2014.
19 Report of the State Council on the Work of Energy Saving and Emission Reduction, presented by Xu Shaoshi,
director general of NDRC, at the 8th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress
on Apr. 21, 2014.
35
3.9%, thus becoming the largest decline since 2009.20
2.
Environmental Issues China Faces and its Priorities of Environment and
Development in 2013
Despite tremendous achievements China has made in environmental protection, we’re still
faced with grim environmental issues currently. Take for example the priority of current
environmental protection. The target completion progress in energy conservation and
emission reduction is behind the schedule. Among the six obligatory targets, the amounts of
declined energy consumption per unit of GDP and emission of nitrogen oxides only account
for 54% and 20% of the expected targets set within the five years, a where remains a
significant gap to realize the target of 60%. To fulfill the goal set in the 12th Five-year Plan,
energy consumption per unit of GDP and NOx emission have to be reduced by an annual
average of above 3.9% and over 4.2% for the remaining two years, far higher than the mean
declination in the first three years. What’s more, the overall degradation of environmental
quality in China has not been turned around in a fundamental way. Though the total emission
of the pollutants included in obligatory targets has been on the decline, and the fulfillment of
some targets has been bettered, it is still difficult to improve overall environmental quality in
current stage under circumstances where the emissions of many pollutants far exceed the
environmental capacity.21
To address above mentioned problems, awareness must be urgently raised of the need to
overcome difficulties and be well prepared for a protracted effort. Besides, temporary and
permanent solutions must be sought to make steady progress in the environmental protection
each year.
In the Central Economic Working Conference convened in December 2013 and the Report on
the Work of the Government delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at the National People’s
Congress in March 2014, the government basically established the focus of environment and
development work in 2014. Specifically, environmental protection and development work
should focus on the acceleration of transformation and structural adjustment so as to drive the
sound, harmonious and sustainable development of economy and the society.
Premier Li Keqiang noted in the Report on the Work of the Government that major work of
the government in environment and development consists of the following aspects.
(1) To adjust industrial structure. For industries with severe overcapacity, we should tighten
the standards for environmental protection, energy consumption, and technology; abolish
preferential policies; digest part of stock and strictly control additional production capacity.
The target of this year is to reduce outdated production capacity of 27 million metric tons of
steel, 42 million metric tons of cement and 35 million standard containers of plate glass, so as
to eliminate backward production capacity as required in the 12th Five-year Plan a year early,
and ensure such production capacity will never increase.
Ding Jun: Effects of Premier Li Keqiang’s Austere Measures-the Best Performance over Six Years since Energy
Saving and Emission Reduction, http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2014-08/12/content_2733668.htm, final visit time:
Aug. 30, 2014.
21 Report of the State Council on the Work of Energy Saving and Emission Reduction, presented by Xu Shaoshi,
director general of NDRC, at the 8th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress
on Apr. 21, 2014..
20
36
(2) To strengthen pollution prevention and control. We will fully implement the plan for air
pollution prevention and control, with the focus on mega cities and regions with frequent
occurrence of haze. We will take PM10 and PM2.5 emission control as a breakthrough point,
and focus on such key links as improving the industrial structure, raising energy efficiency,
reducing vehicle exhaust emissions, and preventing and monitoring wind-borne dust. We will
improve the new mechanism jointly involved by governments, enterprises and the general
public, coordinate prevention and control efforts in affected regions, and fully carry out the
action plan for air pollution prevention and control. It is expected to close down 50,000 small
coal-fired furnaces, and promote 15 million kilowatts of desulfurization units in coal-fired
furnaces, 130 million kilowatts of denitrification units, and 180 million kilowatts of dedusting
units. Six million yellow label vehicles (i.e. vehicles with heavy pollution generated) and
poorly performed old vehicles will be replaced by vehicles that are filled with automobile
diesel and meet National IV Standard. We will take the clean water action plan into practice,
strengthen drinking water source protection, prevent and control water pollution in key river
basins, and carry out land restoration. We will control non-point agricultural source pollution
and strive to build beautiful rural areas.
(3) To propel the transformation of energy production and consumption pattern. We will
strengthen energy conservation and emission reduction and impose a ceiling on total energy
consumption. The target of this year is to cut energy intensity by more than 3.9%. The
emissions of sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand will both be reduced by 2%. We
will continue to raise the proportion of electricity generated by non-fossil fuel, develop smart
grids and promote balanced distribution of energy resources, encourage the development of
wind and solar power, and start construction of a number of hydropower and nuclear power
projects. We will strengthen exploration, exploitation and utilization of natural gas, coal seam
gas and shale gas. We will conduct price reform on resource products and establish a sound
system of tiered pricing for household water and gas consumption. We will launch projects to
enhance building energy efficiency and subsidize the production of energy-efficient products;
develop clean production, green and low-carbon technologies and the circular economy; and
become better able to tackle climate changes. We will take intensified measures in water and
materials conservation and comprehensive utilization of resources. We will speed up the
development and use of energy-efficient and environmental friendly technologies and
products, and turn the energy conservation and environmental protection industries into
dynamic sunrise industries.
(4) To move forward ecological protection and construction. We will propel the conversion of
farmlands to forests and grasslands, with this year's target being 333,300 hectares. We will
implement major ecological projects such as conversion of grazing lands to grasslands,
natural forest protection, sandstorm prevention and control, water and soil conservation,
treatment of stony desertification, and wetland recovery. We will strengthen ecological
conservation at the sources of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers. We will implement the
functional zoning system and give impetus to the establishment of trans-regional and
cross-watershed mechanisms to compensate for ecological damages. Ecological conservation
and environmental protection benefit future generations. Governments at all levels and the
whole society should take more active part in protecting the earth we live.
In the Report on the Work of the Government, Premier Li Keqiang particularly pointed out
that, “We should stand steadfast to declare war to pollution as we did on poverty.” This
expression has risen as a slogan of International Environmental Day on June 5 in China.
In accordance with the deployment made in the 2014 National Work Conference on
Environmental Protection, top priorities of environmental protection for the year 2014 are to
(1) Spare no effort to drive regulation on air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution,
which are taken as three priorities in environmental protection by the State Council. We must
be extremely resolute in our long-term strenuous combat against pollution. (2) Unswervingly
reduce emissions of major pollutants. The annual target of emission reduction for 2014 is to
37
decrease emissions of SO2, COD, ammonia nitrogen and NOx by 2%, 2%, 2% and 5% over
the previous year. We must strive to increase an extra 10 million tons of daily urban sewage
treatment capacity, build 15,000 m2 of flue gas desulpurization for sintering machines and 130
million kilowatts of denitrition facilities for coal-burning units and phase out over 3 million
yellow label vehicles. (3) Optimize economic development with comprehensive measures.
Efforts should be made to set up a linkage mechanism in planning and environmental impact
assessment (EIA) departments, to conduct pilot EIA on policies pertaining to energy and
urbanization, to complete EIA on development strategy in the central region, and to steadily
propel planning and EIA in fields such as industrial parks and rail transportation. Furthermore,
we should also continue to strengthen EIA on construction projects; we should keep a tight
rein on low-level and redundant development as well as the construction of energy-intensive,
highly-polluting and resource-based product projects and that of the projects with excess
production capacity, and provide services for those projects which meet the policy of
expanding domestic demand and satisfy the requirements on environmental protection entry.22
3.
Progress in Major Policies
3.1 Road Map for the Construction of Ecological Civilization System is Defined in the
Decision of the CCCPC on Some Major Issues
Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform
The CCCPC convened the 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in
November 2011, and issued the Decision of the CCCPC on Some Major Issues
Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform. As the most forceful reform measure
since the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, the Decision proposes
“Five-in-One” institutional reform in the fields of economy, politics, culture, society and
ecological civilization.
As a significant link in the general five-in-one layout, ecological civilization becomes one of
reform issues. Key words like comprehensive reform, development and ecological civilization
are repeatedly mentioned in the Decision. Additionally, accelerating the construction of
ecological civilization system is proposed as an important part.
The Decision points out that, we should speed up the establishment of the ecological
civilization system, improve mechanisms and systems related to national land development,
resource conservation and eco-environmental protection centering on the target of building a
beautiful China and deepening ecological civilization system reform, so as to form a new
modernization pattern of harmonious development between humankind and the nature.
The Decision proposed that, to develop ecological civilization, it’s imperative to establish a
systematic and complete system of ecological civilization, implement the most stringent
22Zhou
Shengxian: Deepening the Implementation of the Spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC
Central Committee to Advance the Construction of a Beautiful China Driven by Reform and Innovation --Speech
delivered
at
the
2014
Working
Conference
of
National
Environmental
Protection,
http://www.zhb.gov.cn/zhxx/hjyw/201401/t20140113_266280.htm, final visit time: Aug. 2, 2014.
38
systems of source protection, damage compensation and accountability, improve the system
of environmental governance and ecological restoration, and protect eco-environment by
means of the institutions.
With regard to the system of eco-environmental protection management, the goal of reform
set forth by the MEP is to start with the establishment of the relevant systems put forward in
the Decision, eradicate drawbacks of the existing system for environmental protection
management, enlarge ecological protection functions and reinforce efforts in resource
integration, so as to establish an environmental governance system with functions effectively
integrated and operation highly coordinated. The main works are summarized as follows:
Firstly, establishing and improving pollution control and supervision system. Strict oversight
should be conducted on all pollutants, all pollution sources ranging from point sources like
mines, surface sources like agriculture, fixed sources like factories to mobile sources like
vehicles, boats and planes), and all pollutant-holding medium such as surface water,
underground water, ocean, atmosphere and soil, so as to put in place a comprehensive
prevention and control system.
Secondly, establishing a sound and rigid ecological protection and supervision system. Efforts
should be made to integrate and oversee all natural eco-systems (such as grass, forest, wet
land, sea, river), wild plants and animals, biological species, biological safety and other kinds
of bio-diversity, as well as all conservation areas such as natural reserves, forest parks and
natural monuments.
Thirdly, building a sound and stringent safety oversight system on nuclear and radiation.
Unified supervision should be conducted on civil nuclear facilities, nuclear technology
utilization, uranium mining and metallurgy, as well as nuclear and radiation accidents. We
should also build a uniform system of safety oversight and emergency response on nuclear
and radiation, so as to create an independent and authoritative safety oversight system on
nuclear and radiation.
Fourthly, setting up a sound and strict EIA system. EIA management should be carried out on
strategy, planning and projects, as well as EIA related to environmental pollution and
ecological impacts exerted by marine engineering, offshore engineering, conservation of
water and land; in this way, we can avoid multi-head management and repetitive approval.
Fifthly, creating a sound and rigid environmental law enforcement system. It’s necessary to
integrate environmental enforcement forces, clarify the status of environmental enforcement,
intensify its authority and establish an independent and efficient environmental enforcement
system with powerful supervision. What’s more, impetus should be given to reform and to
upgrading the environmental oversight system characterized by national monitoring, local
oversight and unit accountability.
Finally, building an improved and strict environmental monitoring and warning system. It’s
necessary to combine environmental resources required to be monitored, such as surface
water, underground water and ocean, and set up an environmental monitoring and warning
system with general and coordinated management on land and sea as well as on ground and
39
sky, so as to provide a fundamental guarantee for environmental management.23
Column 1 Elaboration on Accelerating the development of the Ecological Civilization
System in the Decision
To achieve ecological civilization target, it is necessary to establish a systematic and complete
ecological civilization system, pursue the most stringent systems of source protection, damage
compensation and accountability, improve the system of environmental control and ecological
restoration and protect eco-environment by means of institutions.
(51) Establishing and improving natural resource property right and use control systems.
Unified right confirmation and registration should be performed on water, forest, mountain,
grass, wasteland, beach and other natural ecological spaces, so that we can create a property
right system characterized by clear property rights, defined power and responsibility, effective
supervision for natural resources. A spatial planning system should be established to delineate
the boundary of development and control over production, life and ecology and use control
system should be put in place. Besides, a system of conservation and intensive utilization of
energy, water and land should be improved.
We’ll make efforts to improve the asset management system for national natural resources so
that the public can perform responsibilities as the owner of the publicly owned natural
resources and assets in a unified manner. The system of natural resources supervision will be
improved to enable people to uniformly perform responsibilities of use control on all
territorial spaces.
(52) Drawing the ecological red line. We will unswervingly implement the system of
functional areas, build the system of territorial development and protection, promote
development in strict accordance with the functional zoning and set up the national park
system. We will create the mechanism of monitoring and early warning for the bearing
capacity of resources and the environment, and impose restrictive measures on areas with
overloaded water and land resources, environmental capacity and marine resources. We’ll
cancel examination on gross regional product of constricted development areas as well as that
of ecologically vulnerable counties assigned as priorities in national poverty alleviation and
development.
We’ll explore and prepare the balance sheet of natural resources, and carry out term-end
auditing on natural resource assets. And it’s necessary to establish a life-long accountability
system for eco-environmental damage.
(53) Implementing the system of paid use of resources and the ecological compensation
system. We will expedite the pricing reform on natural resources and their products so as to
fully reflect market demand and supply, scarcity of resources, eco-environmental damage
costs and restoration benefits. While abiding by the principle of whoever uses the resources is
responsible for its payment and whoever causes pollution and damage is responsible for its
compensation, we will progressively expand the resources tax to the occupation of various
natural ecological spaces. We’ll keep steady and increase the scope of converting marginal
farmlands back to forests and returning grazing lands to grasslands, make adjustment to the
use of seriously polluted farmlands and farmlands in areas where underground water is
excessively exploited, with view to attaining sustainability of farmlands, rivers and lakes.
We’ll establish a price ratio mechanism for effective regulation on industrial lands and
residential lands, and reasonably raise the price of industrial lands on such basis. We’ll stick
Zhou Shengxian: Deepening the Implementation of the Spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC
Central Committee to Advance the Construction of a Beautiful China Driven by Reform and Innovation --Speech
Delivered
at
the
2014
Working
Conference
of
National
Environmental
Protection,
http://www.zhb.gov.cn/zhxx/hjyw/201401/t20140113_266280.htm, final visit time: Aug. 2, 2014.
40
23
to the principle of whoever gets benefits is responsible for compensation, improve ecological
compensation mechanism for key ecological functional zones, and propel the establishment of
the system of horizontally trans-regional ecological compensation. We’ll make efforts to
develop environment-friendly markets, pursue the energy conservation system and emission
trading and water rights trading systems, build the market mechanism to attract social capital
into ecological environmental protection and carry out the third-party control on
environmental pollution.
(54) Reforming the system of eco-environmental protection management. We’ll establish and
improve such a system for stringent supervision on emissions of diverse pollutants and
conduct independent environmental oversight and administrative enforcement. We’ll build a
regional linkage mechanism for eco-system protection and restoration as well as pollution
prevention and control under land-sea coordination. We’ll improve the system for operation
and management of national forests and the tenure reform on collective forests. We’ll give
timely release of environmental information, improve the reporting system and strengthen
social oversight. An impetus will be given to improve the pollutant emission permit system
and keep control on total emissions of pollutants generated by both enterprises and public
institutions. In addition, a strict compensation system will be exerted on any one who imposes
damages on the eco-environment to ensure that the doer is held criminally accountable.
3.2 The Decision on Major Issues Concerning the Comprehensive Advancement of the
Rule of Law establishes the protection of ecological environment as one of the most
important areas in promoting the construction of socialist legal system and further
strengthening the legal basis.
“Ruling the country with laws” is suggested by the Decision on Major Issues Concerning
the Comprehensive Advancement of the Rule of Law as the essential requirement and
important protection to pursue and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is also
the inexorable demand to push modernization-driven state governance system and governance
capability. The general target is to form a system serving “the socialist rule of law with
Chinese characteristics” and build a country under “the socialist rule of law”. Under the
leadership of the CPC, we should adhere to the socialist system with Chinese characteristics,
implement the socialist legal theory with Chinese characteristics, and perfect the legal system.
We also need to strengthen an efficient law enforcement system, surveillance system, and
protection system, and perfect the regulatory system within the CPC. We should adhere to
ruling the country with laws, and promote administration by law. We are required to the
construction of law-abiding country, law-abiding government, and law-abiding society by
scientifically establishing the law, strictly enforcing the law, judicially administering the law,
and all the people abiding the law.
The Decision on Major Issues Concerning the Comprehensive Advancement of the Rule of
Law points out that the protection of ecological environment should be the critical area to
strengthen the legislation, as the environment is best protected by strict legislation. In order to
promote the ecological civilization construction, legislations with regard to the following
aspects need to be perfected: to accelerate the pace to efficiently constrain the developments;
41
to promote green development, circular development and low-carbon development; to
strengthen the legal responsibility of the enterprises, and dramatically increase the cost to
break the law; to improve the natural resource property right system; to protect the homeland
development; to perfect the ecological compensation system; to control and prevent the
pollution of soil, water, air; and the protection of the marine ecological environment. The
Decision on Major Issues Concerning the Comprehensive Advancement of the Rule of Law
points out the future developments to perfect environmental legislation. It is therefore
important to further implement the Environmental Protection Law by drafting related law
enforcement explanations, guidance and supplementary measures under the administration of
the law.
The Decision on Major Issues Concerning the Comprehensive Advancement of the Rule of
Law also makes a request for administrative law enforcement. It suggests to reform the
administrative law enforcement system and to promote the reform of comprehensive law
enforcement in the area of environmental resources. The law enforcement officers must
possess relevant certificates on duty. The administrative law enforcement and the criminal
justice system need to be well connected and coordinated. Law enforcement activities are
required to follow the guidance strictly. Illegal activities must be punished with accordance to
the law. The law enforcement on areas with special public interest needs to be increased. The
law enforcement procedures need to be perfected, and a law enforcement record system
should be established. It also points out the need to establish and perfect the administrative
discretion system, and to fully implement the administrative law enforcement responsibility
system.
3.3 Great Strides in the Revision of the Environmental Protection Law of the People’s
Republic of China
The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development
(CCICED) put forward in its 2013 policy suggestions that, “We’ll speed up the revision of the
Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as
the Environmental Protection Law or Law) to make it accommodate the needs of ecological
civilization progress and serve as the basic law of environmental protection in China, and at
the same time, we’ll establish and modify supplementary special laws.”
On April 24, 2014, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed the new
Environmental Protection Law which was unprecedentedly strict in Chinese history.
For a long time, the Environmental Protection Law which was born in the era of planned
economy and has been in force for as long as twenty-five years, has been not well suited to
the characteristics and new concepts of economic and social development and, resulting in
lost of fundamental problems. Meanwhile, the extensive development model simply in long
pursuit of GDP growth rate has led to Chinese Environment in such serious situation that it
becomes people’s expectation to live with clean drinking water and fresh air; consequently,
environmental issues have grown as China’s largest challenge associated with people’s
wellbeing. Given this, the concept of beautiful China and sustainable development was
proposed in the 18th CPC National Congress, and ecological civilization was written into the
Party constitution for the first time. In the Decision passed in the 3rd Plenary Session of the
18th CPC Central Committee, the ecological civilization reform became one of the important
42
parts to be tackled. In such a context, how to ease the public’s environmental fear, balance
people’s demand and economic development, and work out a new road for Chinese
environmental protection has become a vital preposition for development and reform in
China.24
On Aug. 27, 2012, the 28th Session of the 11th Standing Committee of the People's National
Congress conducted its first deliberation on the draft amendment to the Environmental
Protection Law. Two years later, the goal of the Law revision shifted from limited
modification to overall enrichment; and after soliciting opinions twice from the general public
and upon deliberations for four times, the revised draft of the Environmental Protection Law
was eventually passed in the NPC Standing Committee on April 24, 2014.
The revised version declares the priority to coordinate economic and social development and
environmental protection and successfully shifts from “policy-based law” to “enforceable
law”, marking another important milestone in the Chinese history of environmental
legislation.25The updated Environmental Protection Law further makes clear the government’s
responsibility in oversight and management of environmental protection, improves the basic
environmental protection systems related to ecological protection redline, total pollution load
control, monitoring and impact assessment on the environment and health, as well as joint
prevention and control between administrative areas. It also reinforces enterprises’
responsibilities in pollution prevention and control, and reinforces efforts in cracking down on
environmental violations. The special chapter stipulates information disclosure and public
participation and identifies the scope of social organizations that have rights to file
environmental public interest litigation. And the number of clauses has also added to 70 from
the previously 47.
The revised Environmental Protection Law has made some breakthroughs in several vital
arenas. Firstly, facilitating green development model based on the bearing capacity of the
environment. In accordance with the Decision of the 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th CPC
Central Committee, we should establish the mechanism of monitoring and early warning for
the bearing capacity of resources and the environment, and take restrictive measures on areas
with environmental capacity overload. Under the Decision, we’re also required to explore and
prepare the balance sheet of natural resources, carry out term-end auditing on natural resource
assets, set up a life-long accountability system for eco-environmental damage and move faster
to form a new modernization pattern of harmonious development between humankind and the
nature. According to the new version, it’s essential for us to establish the mechanism for
monitoring and early warning of the bearing capacity of resources, conduct the environmental
protection accountability system and evaluation and assessment system; we need to take into
account the impacts on the environment in economic policy formulation, restrict EIA approval
for the regions failing to accomplish environmental quality targets, and enhance
environmental quality by stage and step. These provisions will act as a significant basis for us
to implement green national economy accounting, create a development mode based on
environmental bearing capacity, and promote green transformation of china’s economy.
Secondly, driving a multiple-governed system for modern environmental control. President Xi
Jinping proposed to push modernization-driven state governance system and governance
capability. Environmental protection is a significant part of modern state governance and is
also a fundamental public function of the government. The modified Environmental
Protection Law has taken new steps in carrying forward modernization of environmental
governance. It shifts traditional single governance by governments and authorities, which
embodies the philosophy of modern environmental control featured with multiple governance
Wang Wei: In Response to Expectation of All Parties, the New Environmental Protection Law of the People’s
Republic of China Has Come all The Way, China Environment News, Apr. 30, 2014.
25 Wang Jin: Another Important Milestone in the Chinese History of Environment Law Enforcement, Page 5,
China Daily, April 25, 2014.
24
43
and public participation. Under the new mode, governments at all levels will take charge of
environmental quality, enterprises will assume primary responsibility in the process and
citizens will enjoy rights to be informed, to participate and to oversee environmental quality;
the social organizations qualified can make environmental public interest litigation and news
media can carry out supervision by public opinion.26
With regard to the denounced low penalty for law violations, the updated Environmental
Protection Law provides the systems of penalty by days and administrative detention for
law-breaching businesses, and grants enforcement power to environmental protection
authorities. At the same time, it further places emphasis on responsibilities of the government,
particularly, chief government decision-makers. Although it allows greater enforcement
power to environmental supervision authorities, it stipulates punitive measures on dereliction
of duty in environmental oversight, including resignation of responsible persons arising from
dereliction.
3.4 Other Major Macro Policies
Ecological protection should be adopted as a long-term mechanism to achieve sustainable
agricultural development. In January 2014, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council
issued Several Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council
on Comprehensively Deepening the Rural Reform to Accelerate Agricultural Modernization
(hereinafter referred to as the Opinions). The Opinions proposed to make efforts in improving
rural environment to ensure food safety for the vast majority of people, and at the same time,
taking strengthened measures in ecological protection and construction as one of security
mechanisms to boost sustainable development of agriculture and quickening our actions to
draw the ecological red line. According to the Opinions, we are also required to propel natural
forest protection, fortify enclosure and protection of desertified lands, expand of the project
scope of returning grazing lands to grassland in natural grasslands, intensify protection of
marine ecology and put more efforts in constructing island infrastructure. Under the Opinions,
we should also exercise strict control over excessive fishing, make continuous efforts in
pursuing policies like enhancement and releasing and subsidy for aquaculture ecological
restoration. We are also required to carry out major construction projects such as integrated
improvement of rivers and lakes, conservation of water and land, as well as the construction
of small ecologically clean watersheds.
Ecological safety has been listed in the national safety system. On April 15, 2014, President
Xi Jinping hosted the First Meeting of the National Security Commission of the CPC. The
meeting put forward for the first time the overall concept of national security (shorted as the
Concept) and the national security road with Chinese characteristics (shorted as the Road).
The Concept attaches great importance to both traditional and non-traditional security for the
purpose of constructing a national security system which integrates the security of politics,
national territory, military, economy, culture, society, science, information, ecology, resource
and nuclear as a whole.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection: New Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of
China brings together consensus of all parties,
http://www.zhb.gov.cn/gkml/hbb/qt/201404/t20140427_271054.htm, final visit time: Sep. 1, 2014.
26
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