TY - JOUR
AU - Tang,, Tang
AB - A new chapter of Chinese ecological civilization was started in 2017 by the nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on 18 October. President Xi Jinping delivered a report to the Congress. President Xi stated that: building an ecological civilization is vital to sustain the Chinese nation’s development. We must realize that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets and act on this understanding, to implement our fundamental national policy of conserving resources and protecting the environment and cherish the environment as we cherish our own lives. Xi Jinping’s report pointed to speeding up reform of the system for developing an ecological civilization and building a beautiful China. The report provided four points to build an ecological civilization, including: promoting green development, solving pressing environmental problems, intensifying the protection of ecosystems, and reforming the environmental regulation system. The Strategy of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Twenty-first Century Maritime Silk road (One Belt One Road) developed smoothly in 2017. On 14–15 May, the One Belt One Road Summit Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing. To strengthen cooperation on eco-environmental protection and enable eco-environmental protection to serve, support, and guarantee the Belt and Road construction towards environment-friendly routes, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) formulated the Belt and Road Ecological and Environmental Cooperation Plan, pursuant to the Vision and Actions on Jointly Building a Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (Vision and Actions), the thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Protecting the Ecological Environment, and the Guidance on Promoting Green Belt and Road. The report of the nineteenth CPC National Congress was released in October. It contains a special section on the concept and proposal for developing of the world into a Community of a Shared Future for Mankind. According to the report, this is a community with durable peace, common prosperity, universal security, and openness and inclusiveness. China’s vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind on the basis of mutual benefits and win-win cooperation is different from the zero-sum game that used to dominate international relations. President Xi Jinping said: ‘China will never seek hegemony or engage in expansion … and all parties involved believe that peace is mandatory for development, and sincere cooperation can boost shared economic growth.’ (1) Legislation and Regulation Since 2013, President Xi Jinping has championed efforts to build China into a maritime power, adding that the country will pursue ‘common interests’ with other countries in oceanic development. China has paid more attention to ocean economic and environmental development in recent years. The National Congress reviewed and passed an amendment to the Marine Environment Protection Law in 2015, imposing more severe penalties for activities polluting oceans and seas. The amended law adds provisions on marine ecological compensation and changes some Articles that must be compatible with the new Environmental Protection Law in 2015. The National Development and Reform Commission and the State Oceanic Administration established ten to twenty demonstration zones during the thirteenth Five-Year Plan (2016–20) period to test ocean economic polices on 18 January. The zones will feature projects that aim to advance innovative development patterns for the ocean economy, coordinate development of ocean industries, and protect marine ecosystems. By 2020, according to the guideline, the growth rate of ocean economy in these zones will be higher than other local economic development levels. On 2 November, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee had a special session considering the enforcement of the Solid Waste Control Law. The committee called for high awareness and prompt action to control solid waste, which they believe to be a very serious problem. In July, the Administrative Measures on the Environmental Management of Soils on Agricultural Lands (on trial) was promulgated, and the detailed survey on soil pollution was fully conducted. The MEP deepened and carried out the environmental protection reform measures. The General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council adopted programs on piloting the watershed-specific environmental regulation and administrative enforcement institutions and trans-regional environmental protection institutions. Nine provinces, including Jiangsu, Shandong, and Hubei, filed their implementation plans for the reform for a vertical management framework for environmental protection departments below provincial level with the MEP. The Administrative Measures on the Pollutant Emission Permitting (on trial) and the Catalogue for the Category-specific Management of the Pollutant Emission Permitting for Stationary Sources (2017) were released. Pollutant permits were issued to fifteen industries, including the thermal power and paper industries. The MEP adopted amendments to some regulations. These amended regulations include Measures for Supervision and Inspection of National Nature Reserves and Safety Licensing Management for Radioactive Isotopes and Radiographic Devices. On 21 June, the State Council executive meeting adopted the Decision of the State Council on the Amendments to the Regulations on the Environmental Management of Construction Projects (draft). On 27 June, the twenty-eighth session of the Standing Committee of the twelfth National People’s Congress voted to appoint Li Ganjie as Minister of Environmental Protection. The session also adopted the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on the Amendments to the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People’s Republic of China, which was in effect as of 1 January 2018. (2) Multilateral Conventions (A) Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (Vienna Convention) and Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) On 12 September, the commemorative meeting for the thirtieth anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, which was organized by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was held in Beijing. Minister Li Ganjie presented at the meeting and read Premier Li Keqiang’s congratulatory letter. UNEP Executive Director Erik Solheim presented and spoke at the meeting. On 20–4 November, the eleventh Conference of the Parties of the Vienna Convention and the twenty-ninth Meeting of the Parties of the Montreal Protocol were held in Montreal, Canada. Vice Minister Zhao Yingmin headed a Chinese government delegation and presented at the meeting. On the sidelines of the events, Zhao met separately with the UN Deputy Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Erik Solheim, Executive Secretary of the Ozone Secretariat Tina Birmpili, and Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna, and exchanged views on issues of common concern. Aiming to promote the Montreal Protocol, the MEP released the Notification on Work related to the Production and Use of Ozone-depleting Substances (ODS) Project Management on 23 January 2018, which prohibits producing and using ODS in new projects. (B) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) China has become the world’s largest producer and consumer of renewable energy, with its carbon dioxide emissions reduced for two consecutive years. China is still the world’s largest energy consumer, occupying 23 percent of global energy consumption. It has been the fastest growing energy market for sixteen consecutive years. Since 2016, China has continued its firm support for global climate governance process and has been highly praised by the international community for its significant contribution to the conclusion and rapid entry into force of the Paris Agreement and the promotion of international cooperation in addressing climate change. It is worth noting that the just-concluded nineteenth National Congress of the CPC set higher requirements for addressing global climate change and promoting low-carbon development from the perspective of China. In 2016, the State Council issued the thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Strategic Emerging Industries, which laid down comprehensive arrangements for strategic emerging industries in the five years, including objectives, key tasks, and policy measures. The plan proposed the promotion of green low-carbon industries such as new-energy vehicles, new energy as well as energy conservation, and environmental protection industries. The State Council unveiled the Guiding Opinions on Deepening the Integration of Manufacturing and the Internet, calling for alignment of the ‘Made in China 2025’ and ‘Internet Plus’ plans. In 2017, Northwest Qinghai Province ran entirely on renewable energy. According to Chinese officials, 100 percent of energy came from wind, solar, and hydro power stations. Even though it was only a trial, the latest effort by China to transition to clean energy is a plan that includes a nearly US $400 million investment in renewables by 2020. China’s National Energy Administration estimates that that money will create 13 million jobs. More production has led to more consumption, which explains why China overtook the United States last year as the world’s largest consumer of renewable power. Offsetting the carbon emissions generated by major international events has become an increasing trend in recent years. It can be achieved through various approaches, including forestation and the purchase of carbon credit. The BRICS Summit (cooperation between China, Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, and South Africa) became a zero-carbon emission event for the first time at its ninth session in Xiamen, Fujian province in September. Xiamen launched a carbon-neutral project on 22 August, aiming to offset the carbon dioxide generated by the traffic, cooking, use of air conditioners, and other activities during the summit. The BRICS Summit generated an estimated 3,095 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. To offset the emissions of greenhouse gases, Xiamen planned to plant 38.7 hectares of mangroves at a coastal area in Xiang’an district, which has been designated as a mangrove wetland park. (C) Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) On 17 July, the ministerial executive meeting considered and adopted in principle the thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Prevention and Control of Volatile Organic Compounds Pollution. The meeting reviewed two reports, including the report on the progress in enforcing the environment protection law and the next work plans and the report on preparations for enforcing the environment protection tax. (D) Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat On 27 December, the National Forestry Administration issued the Measures for the management of National Wetland Parks (Trial) according to the Notice of the Scheme of the Wetland Conservation and Restoration System, which was released by the State Council in 2016, aiming to reinforce the management of national wetland parks and promote the development of national parks. (E) United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (Desertification Convention) China has made great progress in the fight against desertification in the past few years, with shrinking degraded land and reduced poverty in desertified areas. Land degradation in China has lessened in recent years. The area of desertified land in the country shrank by an annual average of 1,980 square kilometres in the 2010–14 period, a sharper decline than 1,717 square kilometres for the 2005–9 period, and 1,283 square kilometres for 2000–4. China wants to rehabilitate 10 million hectares of desertified land in the 2016–20 period, turning more than half of the country’s reclaimable deserts into green land. To achieve that goal, the country must increase forest coverage to 23 percent by 2020 (from 21.7 percent at the end of 2015), though the coverage is still below the world average level of approximately 30 percent. One of the largest forest projects is the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program. Launched in 1978 and expected to be completed by 2050, it consists of afforestation in northwest, north, and northeast China. China joined other countries taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative to fight against desertification, further strengthen technological cooperation, and promote exchanges to boost green economies in the region on 17 June. A mechanism for cooperation was launched during the thirteenth Conference of the Parties to the Desertification Convention, which took place on 6–16 September in Ordos, in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. China worked with countries including Pakistan, India, and Saudi Arabia to explore an effective long-term mechanism. (F) Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) On 7 September, Minister Li Ganjie met with Cristiana Paşca Palmer, the executive secretary of the CBD, in Beijing. The two sides exchanged views on issues of common concern. In 2017, the MEP accelerated its work on ecological conservation and restoration by delineating and strictly observing the ecological conservation red lines, carrying out major projects on ecosystem protection and restoration, enhancing the development and management of nature reserves, and optimizing urban green space. On 28 November, the MEP and the National Development and Reform Committee reported to the State Council for approval of the delineation plans for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and fifteen provinces (and autonomous regions and municipalities) including Ningxia, as part of their efforts to implement Some Guidance on Delineating and Strictly Observing the Ecological Conservation Red Lines issued by the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. The MEP piloted the delineation of the ‘three lines and one list’—the red line of ecological protection, the bottom line of environmental quality, the top line of resources usage, and the negative list of access to the resources—in four cities, including Lianyungang of Jiangsu Province. (G) Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Basel Convention) On 24–9 September, the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific (BCRC China) participated in the first Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury in Geneva, Switzerland. During the conference, BCRC China signed a memorandum of understanding with the Basel Convention Coordinating Centre and the Stockholm Convention Regional Centre for Capacity Building and Technology Transfer for Latin America and the Caribbean. The two sides have reached a mutual understanding to cooperate in activities in the field of the environmental sound management of waste and chemicals, and cooperative efforts will be associated with, but not limited to: collaborating on training, conferences, workshops; jointly developing and applying for bilateral, regional, and multinational projects in relevant areas; inviting staff to attend meetings and carry out technical internships; and so on. (3) Environmental Major Events in China On 22 January, the MEP announced sixty-three projects that won the 2016 Environmental Protection Science and Technology Award. On 6 February, the Leadership Group to Deepen the Overall Reform of the Central Committee, CPC, held its thirty-second meeting and deliberated and adopted the Plan on the Pilot Projects on Establishing Basin-specific Environmental Regulation and Enforcement Institutions. On 7 February, the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council printed and distributed a document entitled Some Guidance on Delineating and Strictly Observing the Ecological Conservation Red Lines. On 16 March, the MEP and the Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly printed and distributed the Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Guidance to and Standardized Management of Environmental NGOs. On 31 March, the seventh Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety reviewed China’s national implementation report in the International Atomic Enegy Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria. MEP Vice Minister and National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Liu Hua headed a delegation to the meeting, briefed the meeting on the progress made by China in implementation of the convention, and answered questions raised by all parties. On 5 April, the MEP held a teleconference on the 2017–18 strict inspection on air pollution in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding area, making twenty-five rounds of strict inspection within a year in Beijing, Tianjin, and another twenty-six smaller cities in Hebei Province, which is located on the pollution transmission passage in this region. Minister Chen Jining met with the team leaders for the first and second rounds of strict inspection and encouraged the inspections. Vice Minister Zhai Qing spoke at the teleconference. On 20 April, the MEP released the Measures on the Administration of National Environmental Criteria (on trial), which took effect as of the day of announcement. On 24 April, the twenty-seventh session of the Standing Committee of the twelfth National People’s Congress was held in Beijing. On behalf of the State Council, Minister Chen Jining delivered a report on the environmental conditions in 2016, the attainment of the environmental protection goals set for 2016, the Environment Protection Law compliance inspection, and the deliberation opinions. On 4 May, the MEP adopted two national environmental protection standards including the Ambient Air-Determination of Inorganic Elements in Ambient Particle Matter-Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (ED-XRF) Method (HJ 829-2017), which shall go into effect as of 1 July. On 30 May and 1 June, the sixth meeting of the China–Kazakhstan Committee on Environmental Protection Cooperation was held in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan. Chinese Chair of the Committee and Vice Minister of Environmental Protection Zhao Yingmin and Kazakh Chair of the Committee and Vice Minister of Energy Gani Sadibekov headed Chinese and Kazakh delegations to the event. After the meeting, Zhao and Sadibekov signed the meeting minutes and exchanged such documents with the Kazakh side as the Guidance on Promoting Green Belt and Road and the Belt and Road Ecological and Environmental Cooperation Plan. On 6 June, the symposium on the reforms on the ecological and environmental damage compensation system and the ecological conservation red lines was held in Chenzhou Municipality of Hunan Province in Central China. Vice Minister Huang Runqiu and Deputy Governor of the Provincial Government Yang Guangrong delivered remarks at the meeting. During his trip, Huang inspected the local progress in the reforms on the ecological and environmental damage compensation system and the ecological conservation red lines. On 21 June, the State Council executive meeting adopted the Decision of the State Council on the Amendments to the Regulations on the Environmental Management of Construction Projects (draft). On 11 July, the MEP, the Ministry of Land and Resource, the Ministry of Water Resource, the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Forestry Administration, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the State Ocean of Administration jointly printed and distributed the Circular on the Collaborative Thematic Inspection over National Nature Reserves: ‘Green Shield 2017.’ On 18 July, the MEP and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) jointly held a video conference in Beijing to convey the guidelines of the important instructions of Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and to make plans for the implementation of Some Guidance on Delineating and Strictly Observing the Ecological Conservation Red Lines, which was printed and distributed by the general offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. Minister Li Ganjie and NDRC Vice Chairman Hu Zucai presented and spoke at the conference. Vice Minister Huang Runqiu chaired the event. Deputy Administrator of Forestry Liu Dongsheng, Deputy Administrator of Meteorology Jiao Meiyan, Deputy Administrator of Oceanology Sun Shuxian, and Deputy Administrator of Surveying, Mapping, and Geoinformation Li Weisen put forward specific requirements for the implementation of the Guidance. The responsible persons with the relevant departments of the provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps attended the event at respective branch venues. The first meeting of the Inter-ministerial Leading Group for Ecological Conservation Red Lines was held in Beijing. Vice Minister Huang Runqiu chaired the meeting. On 21 August, the MEP printed and distributed the Action Plan for the Integrated Air Pollution Control in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and Surrounding Areas during 2017–18 Autumn and Winter. On 22 August, the MEP held a symposium in Beijing on the Implementation Plan for Banning Foreign Solid Wastes and Promoting the Institutional Reform on Solid Waste Import Management. Minister Li Ganjie presented and delivered remarks at the symposium. Persons in charge of such implementation from the people’s governments of Tianjin, Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, and Guangdong, as well as State commissions and departments including the NDRC, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development presented and spoke at the symposium. On 25 December, Minister Li Ganjie presided over an executive meeting that considered and adopted in principle the Technical Guidelines for Delineating the Ecological Conservation Red Lines, Environmental Quality Bottom Lines, Resource Use Upper Limit, and Preparing the Environmental Access Negative List (on trial). On 26 December, the MEP adopted the National Environmental Protection Standard for Assessment of Nature Reserve Management (HJ 913–2017), which shall enter into force on 1 March 2018. (4) Environmental Public Interest Litigations With China sparing no efforts to fight pollution in recent years, courts across the country have handled a rapidly rising number of environment-related lawsuits in the past five years, according to the nation’s top court. The Supreme People’s Court, in its work report released in March 2018, said the number of criminal environmental cases heard by courts nationwide between 2013–17 increased by 65.6 times compared with the period from 2008–12. Though the exact figure was not released, earlier data from the top court also points to this sharp rise. In 2014, courts filed 1,188 environment-related criminal cases, while in 2016, they concluded 19,000 criminal cases related to environmental and ecological damage, up by 18.8 percent year-on-year. The Supreme Court made greater efforts to protect the environment and ecology, contributing to building a beautiful China. The number of people investigated for environment-related crimes has also increased, according to the work report of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. Approximately 137,000 people were charged in the past five years with crimes involving air, water, or soil pollution, and importing foreign waste, as well as illegally occupying farmland, destructive mining, and illegal lumbering, up by 59.3 percent from the previous five-year period. The revised Environmental Protection Law, effective since 2015, stipulates that polluters face a fine of up to 100,000 yuan (US $15,000) a day if they do not stop emissions after being warned, and there is no ceiling on the fine. Chinese prosecution organs put 6,335 public interest litigation cases involving ecological protection on file from last July to January according to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP). Prosecution organs oversaw more than 1,400 enterprises rectify illegal activities and restored over 280 square kilometers of polluted water, according to the SPP. A total of 10,565 public interest litigation cases were filed from last July to January 2018, and prosecution organs at all levels paid close attention to cases on environmental and resource protection as well as food and drug safety. Public interest litigation also helped prosecution organs to recover economic losses of more than 87 billion yuan (US $12.7 billion) as of January 2018. © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)
TI - B. China
JO - Yearbook of International Environmental Law
DO - 10.1093/yiel/yvy063
DA - 2017-01-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/b-china-POPf7VcKzC
SP - 380
VL - 28
IS - 
DP - DeepDyve
ER -