Implementing Environmental Policy In China

In the 1980s, China established its first systems of environmental management collectively known as the three magic weapons: environmental impact assessment, pollutant discharge fees, and the three synchronizations. The authors explore the successes and failures of these systems through actual investigation of individual factories. They also examine the key agencies that implement environmental policy and their responsibilities to both leaders of local government and China's National Environmental Protection Agency. Their findings provide intriguing insights into the broader issues of environmental goals and priorities in developing countries, and the roles of both government agencies and entrepreneurs in policy implementation.

Provides insights into both environmental management and Chinese politics and culture.

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Reports on how environmental impact assessment, pollutant discharge fees, and the synchronization of a new factory or expansion with appropriate waste treatment facilities, have been implemented at the level of the individual industrial facility in the small southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Describes how environmental protection is woven into the economic and political fabric of the country and how the local bureaus are responsible to both local and national leaders. The study, part of a larger one, provides insight into the overall processes of environmental protection policy and the transition to a market economy in China. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

BARBARA J. SINKULE conducted research on environmental policy implementation in China through Stanford University's Environmental and Water Studies Program and has been involved in China-related work since 1983.

LEONARD ORTOLANO is UPS Foundation Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Program on Urban Studies at Stanford University.