The environment in the People's Republic of China 50 years on

China Quarterly

Volumn , Issue 159, 1999, Pages 640-649

  Edmonds, Richard Louis ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY;

CHINA;

EID: 0032714602     PISSN: 00094439     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0305741000003398     Document Type: Article

References (36)

1. Degradation of China's environment started long before 1949. For some examples see Mark Elvin and Liu Ts'ui-jung (eds.), Sediments of Time: Environment and Society in Chinese History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).
2. For example Zhongguo kexue bao she (ed.), "Shengcun yu fazhan" ("Survival and development") (Beijing: unofficial report of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1989), pp. 9, 17.
3. According to Rudolf G. Wagner, "Agriculture and environmental protection in China," in Bernhard Glaeser (ed.), Learning from China? Development and Environment in Third World Countries (London: Allen & Unwin, 1987), p. 135, by 1979 China was using various combinations of plants and animals for pest control over a larger area than any country in the world. By 1978 there were 7 million biogas (methane produced by the decomposition of organic matter) reactors in use, mostly in southern China, especially Sichuan. These reactors, while important locally, produced less than 2% of China's total energy supply.
4. Projections made by the World Bank provide some optimism for the Chinese environment if appropriate investments are undertaken. See Todd M. Johnson, Feng Liu and Richard Newfarmer, Clear Water Blue Skies (Washington: World Bank, 1997). In China Urban Environmental Service Management (World Bank Report No. 13073-CHA, 1994), p. vi, the World Bank had pointed out that between 1980 and 1992 the amount of GDP spent on pollution control increased from 0.40% to 0.67% but further argued that the future would be brighter if the government raises its investment in pollution control and monitoring to a higher proportion of GDP.
5. Projections made by the World Bank provide some optimism for the Chinese environment if appropriate investments are undertaken. See Todd M. Johnson, Feng Liu and Richard Newfarmer, Clear Water Blue Skies (Washington: World Bank, 1997). In China Urban Environmental Service Management (World Bank Report No. 13073-CHA, 1994), p. vi, the World Bank had pointed out that between 1980 and 1992 the amount of GDP spent on pollution control increased from 0.40% to 0.67% but further argued that the future would be brighter if the government raises its investment in pollution control and monitoring to a higher proportion of GDP.
6. Robert F. Ash and Richard Louis Edmonds, "China's land resources, environment and agricultural production," The China Quarterly, No. 156 (December 1998), pp. 844-46 and Vaclav Smil, "China's agricultural land," The China Quarterly, No. 158 (June 1999), pp. 415-19). According to "Regional briefing," Far Eastern Economic Review, Vol. 161, No 50 (10 December 1998), p. 16, the government still plans to reclaim more than 1 million hectares of land along the coast by 2040 or 2050 for 20 to 30 million residents with possible negative ecological impacts.
7. Robert F. Ash and Richard Louis Edmonds, "China's land resources, environment and agricultural production," The China Quarterly, No. 156 (December 1998), pp. 844-46 and Vaclav Smil, "China's agricultural land," The China Quarterly, No. 158 (June 1999), pp. 415-19). According to "Regional briefing," Far Eastern Economic Review, Vol. 161, No 50 (10 December 1998), p. 16, the government still plans to reclaim more than 1 million hectares of land along the coast by 2040 or 2050 for 20 to 30 million residents with possible negative ecological impacts.
8. Robert F. Ash and Richard Louis Edmonds, "China's land resources, environment and agricultural production," The China Quarterly, No. 156 (December 1998), pp. 844-46 and Vaclav Smil, "China's agricultural land," The China Quarterly, No. 158 (June 1999), pp. 415-19). According to "Regional briefing," Far Eastern Economic Review, Vol. 161, No 50 (10 December 1998), p. 16, the government still plans to reclaim more than 1 million hectares of land along the coast by 2040 or 2050 for 20 to 30 million residents with possible negative ecological impacts.
9. James E. Nickum, "Is China living on the water margin," The China Quarterly, No. 156 (December 1998), p. 880. According to Liu Changming, "Underground water table under heavy pressure," China Environment News, No. 44 (1993), p. 6, the groundwater table in northern China has been dropping at a rate of 50 centimetres per annum, and in places it is 200 feet (70 metres) below where it was in the 1950s. The most pessimistic arguments about water shortages come from Lester Brown. For a recent example of Brown's views in relation to China and India see, "Feeding nine billion," State of the World 1999: A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress Toward a Sustainable Society (London & New York: W. W. Norton, 1999), pp. 115-132.
10. James E. Nickum, "Is China living on the water margin," The China Quarterly, No. 156 (December 1998), p. 880. According to Liu Changming, "Underground water table under heavy pressure," China Environment News, No. 44 (1993), p. 6, the groundwater table in northern China has been dropping at a rate of 50 centimetres per annum, and in places it is 200 feet (70 metres) below where it was in the 1950s. The most pessimistic arguments about water shortages come from Lester Brown. For a recent example of Brown's views in relation to China and India see, "Feeding nine billion," State of the World 1999: A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress Toward a Sustainable Society (London & New York: W. W. Norton, 1999), pp. 115-132.
11. James E. Nickum, "Is China living on the water margin," The China Quarterly, No. 156 (December 1998), p. 880. According to Liu Changming, "Underground water table under heavy pressure," China Environment News, No. 44 (1993), p. 6, the groundwater table in northern China has been dropping at a rate of 50 centimetres per annum, and in places it is 200 feet (70 metres) below where it was in the 1950s. The most pessimistic arguments about water shortages come from Lester Brown. For a recent example of Brown's views in relation to China and India see, "Feeding nine billion," State of the World 1999: A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress Toward a Sustainable Society (London & New York: W. W. Norton, 1999), pp. 115-132.
12. For details see Liu Changming, "Environmental issues and the south-north water transfer scheme," The China Quarterly, No. 156 (December 1998), pp. 899-910.
13. Recent projects include the "Three Norths Shelterbelt" project (sanbei fanghulin), the "Greening of the Plains" project, the "Greening of the Taihang Mountains" project, the 18,000-kilometre long "Coastal Protective Forest" project, the "Chang River Middle and Upper Reaches Protective Forest Construction Project," and the "Continual Production Timber Forest Base Construction Project." With these plans, China hopes to have 15 to 16% of its total area planted in trees by the year 2000, up from 13.39% in 1994. For details of some of these projects see Guojia huanjing baohuju: Guojia jihua weiyuanhui, Zhongguo huanjing baohu xingdong jihua 1991-2000 nian (China's Environmental Protection Activity Plan 1991-2000) (Beijing: Zhongguo huanjing kexue chubanshe, 1994), pp. 69-73.
14. "China seeks foreign aid to fight increasing desertification," China News Digest, GL98-153 (16 November 1998), p. 2(4). By 1991 the State Council felt that desertification in northern China was damaging enough to call for the establishment of a National Sand Control Aid Group. In 1992 the Ministry of Forestry began a National Sand Control Ten-Year Plan and in 1994 China signed the United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification.
15. Reasons for disappearance of species and reduction of numbers are not unique to China: destruction of habitats for agriculture, industry and housing, government eradication policies for certain species, excessive hunting, pollution from pesticides and industry, and poor management and the small scale of many nature reserves and parks. Officially animals and plants receiving first-class protection are those which are endemic, rare, precious or threatened and those accorded second-class protection are species whose numbers are declining or whose geographical distribution is becoming more restricted.
16. Lara Dangerfield, "Growing treasures," China Now, No. 153 (1995), pp. 10-11.
17. For a recent study see Eduard B. Vermeer, "Industrial pollution in China and remedial policies," The China Quarterly, No. 156 (December 1998), pp. 952-985.
18. "1997 Report on the Environment in China" (internet version: State Environmental Protection Administration, 1998), pp. 3-5 states that the Chang, Zhu (Pearl) and Huang Rivers were barely acceptable.
19. Maggie Fox, "Chinese cities' bad air imperils children - study," Reuters new release, 25 January 1999. The study looked at total suspended particulates, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. The ten cities listed in the report, in descending order of total suspended particulate levels were: Lanzhou, Jilin, Taiyuan, Jiaozuo, Rajkot in India, Wan Xian, Urumqi, Yichang, Hanzhong and Anyang.
20. For details of the arguments surrounding the Sanxia project see Richard Louis Edmonds, "The Sānxiá (Three Gorges) Project: the environmental argument surrounding China's super dam," Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters, Vol. 4, No. 2 (July 1992), pp. 105-125.
21. Regulations for managing the supervision of auto emissions were formulated in 1990. For details on vehicle emissions see Michael P. Walsh, "Theme paper 2: motor vehicle pollution control in China: an urban challenge," in Stephen Stares and Liu Zhi (eds.), China's Urban Transport Development Strategy: Proceedings of a Symposium in Beijing, November 8-10, 1995 (Washington: World Bank Discussion Paper No. 352, 1996), pp. 118-122.
22. In fact, according to Mark W. Speece and Kawahara Yukiko, "Transportation in China in the 1990s," International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, Vol. 25, No. 8 (1996), pp. 56-57, to reduce short-trip passenger use, railway ticket prices were drastically increased in the mid-1980s rather than investing in further construction.
23. Joyce Y. Man, "Transportation infrastructure and regional economic development in China," International Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 21, No. 9 (1998), p. 1318.
24. Guojia tongjiju (ed.), 98 Zhongguo fazhan baogao (China Development Report 1998) (Beijing: Zhongguo tongji chubanshe, 1998), p. 126.
25. In the case of Beijing, the government banned leaded petrol in Beijing from 1 June 1997 ("Leaded gas to be banned in Beijing," China News Digest, GL97-069 (12 May 1997), (5); began random vehicle checks in the city ("Tougher car emission measurements to be used by China," China News Digest, GL98-054 (17 April 1998), (3); introduced buses fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas ("News from 'China Daily'," China News Digest, GL98-043 (23 March 1998), (3), and announced plans for more commuter rail transport projects as the city was preparing for the 50-year celebration ("Beijing to receive major funding for city improvement," China News Digest, GL98-061 (1 May 1998), (3). Tougher new auto carbon filter standards were issued in 1998 ("New requirement set to cut auto emission," China News Digest, GL97-15 (12 November 1997), (4). However, a fuel tax which was to encourage emission reductions raised objections from taxi drivers ("Proposed fuel tax to impact auto industry and public transport," China News Digest, GL98-167 (18 December 1998), 1 (6)) and from farmers as well as the automotive industry. According to "Concerns about fuel tax prompts hoarding of gasoline nationwide," China News Digest, GL98-169 (23 December 1998), (3), the tax also led to hoarding so that implementation was postponed.
26. In the case of Beijing, the government banned leaded petrol in Beijing from 1 June 1997 ("Leaded gas to be banned in Beijing," China News Digest, GL97-069 (12 May 1997), (5); began random vehicle checks in the city ("Tougher car emission measurements to be used by China," China News Digest, GL98-054 (17 April 1998), (3); introduced buses fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas ("News from 'China Daily'," China News Digest, GL98-043 (23 March 1998), (3), and announced plans for more commuter rail transport projects as the city was preparing for the 50-year celebration ("Beijing to receive major funding for city improvement," China News Digest, GL98-061 (1 May 1998), (3). Tougher new auto carbon filter standards were issued in 1998 ("New requirement set to cut auto emission," China News Digest, GL97-15 (12 November 1997), (4). However, a fuel tax which was to encourage emission reductions raised objections from taxi drivers ("Proposed fuel tax to impact auto industry and public transport," China News Digest, GL98-167 (18 December 1998), 1 (6)) and from farmers as well as the automotive industry. According to "Concerns about fuel tax prompts hoarding of gasoline nationwide," China News Digest, GL98-169 (23 December 1998), (3), the tax also led to hoarding so that implementation was postponed.
27. In the case of Beijing, the government banned leaded petrol in Beijing from 1 June 1997 ("Leaded gas to be banned in Beijing," China News Digest, GL97-069 (12 May 1997), (5); began random vehicle checks in the city ("Tougher car emission measurements to be used by China," China News Digest, GL98-054 (17 April 1998), (3); introduced buses fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas ("News from 'China Daily'," China News Digest, GL98-043 (23 March 1998), (3), and announced plans for more commuter rail transport projects as the city was preparing for the 50-year celebration ("Beijing to receive major funding for city improvement," China News Digest, GL98-061 (1 May 1998), (3). Tougher new auto carbon filter standards were issued in 1998 ("New requirement set to cut auto emission," China News Digest, GL97-15 (12 November 1997), (4). However, a fuel tax which was to encourage emission reductions raised objections from taxi drivers ("Proposed fuel tax to impact auto industry and public transport," China News Digest, GL98-167 (18 December 1998), 1 (6)) and from farmers as well as the automotive industry. According to "Concerns about fuel tax prompts hoarding of gasoline nationwide," China News Digest, GL98-169 (23 December 1998), (3), the tax also led to hoarding so that implementation was postponed.
28. In the case of Beijing, the government banned leaded petrol in Beijing from 1 June 1997 ("Leaded gas to be banned in Beijing," China News Digest, GL97-069 (12 May 1997), (5); began random vehicle checks in the city ("Tougher car emission measurements to be used by China," China News Digest, GL98-054 (17 April 1998), (3); introduced buses fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas ("News from 'China Daily'," China News Digest, GL98-043 (23 March 1998), (3), and announced plans for more commuter rail transport projects as the city was preparing for the 50-year celebration ("Beijing to receive major funding for city improvement," China News Digest, GL98-061 (1 May 1998), (3). Tougher new auto carbon filter standards were issued in 1998 ("New requirement set to cut auto emission," China News Digest, GL97-15 (12 November 1997), (4). However, a fuel tax which was to encourage emission reductions raised objections from taxi drivers ("Proposed fuel tax to impact auto industry and public transport," China News Digest, GL98-167 (18 December 1998), 1 (6)) and from farmers as well as the automotive industry. According to "Concerns about fuel tax prompts hoarding of gasoline nationwide," China News Digest, GL98-169 (23 December 1998), (3), the tax also led to hoarding so that implementation was postponed.
29. In the case of Beijing, the government banned leaded petrol in Beijing from 1 June 1997 ("Leaded gas to be banned in Beijing," China News Digest, GL97-069 (12 May 1997), (5); began random vehicle checks in the city ("Tougher car emission measurements to be used by China," China News Digest, GL98-054 (17 April 1998), (3); introduced buses fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas ("News from 'China Daily'," China News Digest, GL98-043 (23 March 1998), (3), and announced plans for more commuter rail transport projects as the city was preparing for the 50-year celebration ("Beijing to receive major funding for city improvement," China News Digest, GL98-061 (1 May 1998), (3). Tougher new auto carbon filter standards were issued in 1998 ("New requirement set to cut auto emission," China News Digest, GL97-15 (12 November 1997), (4). However, a fuel tax which was to encourage emission reductions raised objections from taxi drivers ("Proposed fuel tax to impact auto industry and public transport," China News Digest, GL98-167 (18 December 1998), 1 (6)) and from farmers as well as the automotive industry. According to "Concerns about fuel tax prompts hoarding of gasoline nationwide," China News Digest, GL98-169 (23 December 1998), (3), the tax also led to hoarding so that implementation was postponed.
30. In the case of Beijing, the government banned leaded petrol in Beijing from 1 June 1997 ("Leaded gas to be banned in Beijing," China News Digest, GL97-069 (12 May 1997), (5); began random vehicle checks in the city ("Tougher car emission measurements to be used by China," China News Digest, GL98-054 (17 April 1998), (3); introduced buses fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas ("News from 'China Daily'," China News Digest, GL98-043 (23 March 1998), (3), and announced plans for more commuter rail transport projects as the city was preparing for the 50-year celebration ("Beijing to receive major funding for city improvement," China News Digest, GL98-061 (1 May 1998), (3). Tougher new auto carbon filter standards were issued in 1998 ("New requirement set to cut auto emission," China News Digest, GL97-15 (12 November 1997), (4). However, a fuel tax which was to encourage emission reductions raised objections from taxi drivers ("Proposed fuel tax to impact auto industry and public transport," China News Digest, GL98-167 (18 December 1998), 1 (6)) and from farmers as well as the automotive industry. According to "Concerns about fuel tax prompts hoarding of gasoline nationwide," China News Digest, GL98-169 (23 December 1998), (3), the tax also led to hoarding so that implementation was postponed.
31. In the case of Beijing, the government banned leaded petrol in Beijing from 1 June 1997 ("Leaded gas to be banned in Beijing," China News Digest, GL97-069 (12 May 1997), (5); began random vehicle checks in the city ("Tougher car emission measurements to be used by China," China News Digest, GL98-054 (17 April 1998), (3); introduced buses fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas ("News from 'China Daily'," China News Digest, GL98-043 (23 March 1998), (3), and announced plans for more commuter rail transport projects as the city was preparing for the 50-year celebration ("Beijing to receive major funding for city improvement," China News Digest, GL98-061 (1 May 1998), (3). Tougher new auto carbon filter standards were issued in 1998 ("New requirement set to cut auto emission," China News Digest, GL97-15 (12 November 1997), (4). However, a fuel tax which was to encourage emission reductions raised objections from taxi drivers ("Proposed fuel tax to impact auto industry and public transport," China News Digest, GL98-167 (18 December 1998), 1 (6)) and from farmers as well as the automotive industry. According to "Concerns about fuel tax prompts hoarding of gasoline nationwide," China News Digest, GL98-169 (23 December 1998), (3), the tax also led to hoarding so that implementation was postponed.
32. Stephen Stares and Liu Zhi, "Theme paper 1: Motorization in Chinese cities: issues and actions," in Stares and Liu Zhi, China's Urban Transport Development Strategy, pp. 48, 51.
33. Speece and Kawahara, "Transportation in China," p. 67.
34. "1997 Report on the Environment in China" (internet version: State Environmental Protection Administration, 1998), pp. 8, 10, 14-15.
35. Lester Ross, "China: environmental protection, domestic policy trends, patterns of participation in regimes and compliance with international norms," The China Quarterly, No. 156 (December 1998), pp. 809-835.
36. James S. Cannon, China at the Crossroads: Energy, Transportation, and the 21st Century (New York: INFORM Special Report, June 1998), p. 13.