China Environmental Law

Some of you may be aware of the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) (we’ve reported on it previously here and here).  It was established by Presidents Bush and Hu as a
focused and effective framework for addressing issues of mutual concern. By prioritizing issues in the broader context of our bilateral economic relationship, the SED [...]

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Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers.  This is a work day in China (and the rest of the world), so we are here at the office.  We’re going to take it easy, however, so no long post today.  Watch for some exciting stories in the coming days, including:

An article on the Strategic Economic Dialogue’s [...]

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China’s energy consumption per unit of GDP fell 3.46% over the first three quarters according to a report in China Petroleum Daily.  For the third quarter, energy use per unit of GDP fell 0.58 pct, according to Yu Cong, director of the energy efficiency center under the Energy Research Institute.  If this is so, it [...]

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I spent my morning at a workshop hosted by Shanghai’s Environmentally Friendly City Initiative.  I was attending as a representative of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (AmCham Shanghai) so let me report with that hat on.
There were presentations by the head of the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau (SEPB), and representatives of the United [...]

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Like many others, I have spent more time than I should have rummaging through the Google-hosted, old Life magazine photographs of China.  Since I’m based in Shanghai, I went first to the pictures of the “Pearl of the Orient.”  Most are from the end of the Japanese occupation to the point of “liberation.”  They are all [...]

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China announced again on Tuesday that it reduced pollutant emissions in the first half of 2008.  Did the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) officials conclude that insufficient attention had been paid to this story when it was first released two months ago, or did they assume that everyone had forgotten about it so why not recycle [...]

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I recently had the pleasure of meeting two Fulbright scholars studying in China, both of whom are involved in environmental issues, and both of whom are writing blogs.
First up (in alphabetical order) is Geoff Lewis and his blog China Green Buildings.  As the blog name suggests, Geoff’s primary interest is the “future of green buildings [...]

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Is there any money in China’s recently announced stimulus plan for energy and the environment?  Yes, quite a bit, but the details are still sketchy.  Much of what is reported below was gleaned from articles at China Stakes which has done a great job covering the details of the stimulus package.
General Package
Under the Plan at least [...]

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First, apologies for my light posting record recently.  I’ve been really swamped, but things are easing up a little now.
You may recall a post earlier this month with the subheading “One Bad Apple?“  That question has now been answered, there are at least two (alleged) bad apples and there may be more; things are getting [...]

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At a forum last week in Shanghai devoted to the “Legal Provision for Building a Environment-Friendly Society,” the inadequacies of China’s environmental laws were discussed.  According to my favorite source for news and opinions, the Shanghai Daily (this link will soon be dead and the article will be behind a pay wall), Bie Tao, a senior [...]

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