Annual Review of Chinese Environmental Law Developments: 2013

• Date: 01 June 2014

6-2014 NEWS & ANALYSIS 44 ELR 10465

C O M M E N T

Annual Review of Chinese

Environmental Law

Developments: 2013

by Mingqing You and Gengzheng Wang

Mingqing You is an Associate Professor at the Environmental and Resources Law Institute, Zhongnan University of

Economics and Law, Wuhan, China. He is also an Associate Professor at Hubei Water Aairs Research Center, Wuhan,

China, and a lawyer with Hubei Zhong He Xin Law Firm, Wuhan, China. Gengzheng Wang is an environmental

law graduate student of the Law School, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China.

As the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the

leading political part y of China and in eect

determines the policies of t he Chine se govern-

ment, this Comment review s the policy developments

of t he CPC during 2 013, and what t hese mean for the

development and e nforcement of environmental law.

is Com ment then examines developments in cr imina l

law, control of a ir pollution, and administrative regu-

lations. e new administrative regulations are mainly

related to the pollution of large-scale l ivestock and poul-

try faci lities and urba n d rainage and sewage. Finally,

this Comment discusses some minor revisions of existi ng

laws and regulations.

I. Policy Developments in the Third

Plenum of the 18th CPC Central

Committee

In its 18th National Congress, the CPC proposed the

notion of “a beautiful China” and emphasized the impor-

tance of environmental protection.1 e 18th CPC Cen-

tral Committee convened its third plenar y session, known

as the ird Plenum, from November 9-12, 2013, in

Beijing. e meeting resulted in adoption of a decision

entitled, “Decision of the Central Committee of the Com-

munist Party of China on Some Major Issues Concern-

1. H J, G S   CPC, F M  

P  S W C C  S  C-

  B   M P S  A R-

 (Nov. 8, 2012), available at http://www.china.org.cn/china/18th_

cpc_congress/2012-11/16/content_27137540.htm. See also Mingqing You

& Jiaqi Liu, Annual Review of Chinese Environmental Law Developments:

2012, 43 ELR 10418 (May 2013).

ing Comprehensively Deepening the Reform,”2 as well as

a communiqué.3

e decision adopted at the ird Plenum is a new

round of initiatives to further the reform initiated in 1978.

e overall goal of this new round of reform is “to improve

and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, and to

promote the modernization of the national governance sys-

tem and capacity.”4 “Socialism w ith Chinese characteris-

tics” is a goal set forth by previous Chinese leaders and was

reiterated here to indicate that the new group of leaders will

follow the predetermined course of the CPC and China.

Important to understanding the new policy development is

the newly added goal “to promote the modernization of the

national governance system and capacity,” which is vital

for the development of environmental law and governance

in the years to come.

e word “governance” may indicate a fundamental

change in political and governmental behavior. Gover-

nance implies attention to the market and civil society; a

transition f rom “government” to “governance” may indi-

cate the government will give more power to market forces

and civil society. is change is signicant because both the

market and civil society have been suppressed and under-

developed since 1949, due to ideological disputes on their

roles in a socialist country. Top political leaders adopted a

policy of reform and “opening up” in the late 1970s, allow-

ing a market economy to evolve and gain gradual accep-

2. Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on

Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform

(adopted by the CPC Central Committee, Nov. 12, 2013), available at

http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-11/15/c_118164235.htm (in

Chinese) [hereinafter Decision].

3. Communiqué of the ird Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee

of the Communist Party of China (adopted by the CPC Central Commit-

tee, Nov. 12, 2013), available at http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-

11/12/c_118113455.htm (Chinese version) and http://www.china.org.cn/

china/third_plenary_session/2014-01/15/content_31203056.htm (English

translation) [hereinafter Communiqué].

4. Decision, supra note 2; Communiqué, supra note 3.

Copyright © 2014 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.