CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6 67
Governing Marine and Coastal Environment in China:
Building Local Government Capacity Through
International Cooperation
To support this argument, we first introduce the
current state of China’s coastal and marine environment,
followed by a historical analysis of the regulatory and
institutional framework of marine environmental
protection. Secondly, we investigate why local
governments were previously largely ignored in
environmental protection efforts, and why it has now
become important to involve China’s local governments
in coastal and marine environmental management.
Thirdly, we present lessons and experiences from a Global
Environment Facility (GEF) and UN Development
Programme (UNDP) project in China that has
considerable local-level involvement in project
implementation. Finally, we discuss the implications of
localizing transnational environmental problems for
future coastal and marine protection efforts in China.
CHINA’S DEGRADING COASTAL AND MARINE
ENVIRONMENT
Since the 1970s, the explosion of industrialization and
Beginning in the 1980s, the Chinese government
adopted two key strategies to address the country’s
environmental degradation—devolving more
power to local governments to implement new
environmental laws and welcoming multilateral and
bilateral assistance. The devolution of central government
functions to local jurisdictions occurred partly in response
to political pressures for local autonomy, but also due to
the inability of the central government to meet diverse
local demands for public services, including
environmental protection. Chinese leaders also have
turned to the international community to supplement
the country’s insufficient fiscal resources for
environmental protection. In China, as in other
developing countries, international and bilateral
organizations offering environmental protection assistance
interact mainly with central governments while local
governments are largely excluded. We believe Chinese
local governments should be targeted for international
environmental assistance, especially in the complex area
of coastal and marine conservation.
By Sulan Chen and Juha I. Uitto
Over the past two decades, rapid economic growth has brought considerable wealth and development to China’s
eastern provinces, where the explosion of industrialization and urbanization has created severe environmental
degradation along the country’s 20,000-kilometer coastline. Damage to China’s coasts is but one area of severe
environmental degradation in China, for the quest for economic growth at any cost has had equally dramatic
consequences on the quality of the air, land, and water throughout the country. The Chinese government has
resorted to two channels—increased local autonomy and international assistance—to address the country’s
environmental degradation. Since the 1980s, the Chinese leadership has been turning to the international community
for financial and technical assistance to supplement its environmental protection efforts. In China, as in other
developing countries, international and bilateral organizations offering environmental protection assistance interact
mainly with national-level governments and organizations. International involvement in community-level
environmental initiatives has been dominated by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The middle-level
agents—Chinese local governments, which ultimately implement all environmental policies—have largely been
ignored by international organizations. This paper highlights the importance of local-level governance for China’s
environmental protection and explores why it is essential for international organizations to help increase the
capacity of local governance of China’s coastal and marine environment. Linking these more empowered local
governments with international assistance could fundamentally change the way in which China deals with
environmental challenges.
68 CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6
FEATURE ARTICLES
urbanization has created severe environmental
consequences along China’s vast coastline. Old coastal
cities have expanded rapidly and new cities, such as
Shenzhen, have been built within the span of a decade.
China’s coastal areas support huge populations: the East
China Sea coast and related river basins have a total
population of 510 million people; Bohai Sea and its
basins, 445 million; and South China Sea, 268 million.
The worst damage to China’s coastal and marine
environment has taken place during the past two decades.
According to the 2002 China Human Development Report
(SEI and UNDP, 2002), siltatation in the East China
and Bohai seas has worsened due to increasing nutrient
loads. Indicative of the worsening marine water quality,
in 2002 red tides affected approximately 10,000 square
of alien aquatic species through ship ballast water. Alien
species may become invasive, replacing native species and
thus destroying the ecosystem balance. Even red-tide
organisms have been transported in ballast water. The
International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimates
that 10 million tons of ballast water is transported globally
each year.1
Unsustainable fishing. Driven by short-term economic
incentives, individual fishers and large-scale fishing
companies are overexploiting China’s coastal fisheries. In
the East China Sea, for example, the total number of
Chinese vessels increased nearly eightfold between the
1960s and 1990s, while during the same period catchper-
unit figures declined threefold. Moreover, catches have
Since the 1970s, the explosion of industrialization and urbanization has
created severe consequences along China’s vast coastline.
kilometers (km2) along China’s coasts (SEI and UNDP,
2002). A mere year later, a total area of 15,000 km2 was
impacted by red tide incidents (SOA, 2002). These and
other environmental stresses on China’s coastal ecosystem
stem from point sources (such as urban sewage), nonpoint
sources (especially agriculture), offshore pollution
sources, and unsustainable fishing practices:
Urban point source pollution. Municipal wastewater
treatment rates in Chinese cities, even in wealthier coastal
regions, are quite low. In past decades, large quantities of
pollutants both from cities and industries have been
directly discharged into the sea without much treatment.
The Bohai, Yellow, and East China seas received 1.5
billion tons of industrial wastewater discharge from twelve
large coastal cities in 1999 (COP, 2000). About a quarter
of Bohai Sea is considered seriously polluted.
Non-point pollution sources. Agricultural runoff laced with
fertilizers and pesticides finds its way to rivers and streams
that run into the sea. Other non-point source pollution—
from residential and commercial development, mining,
forest cutting, and land clearing—adds to the burden.
Inorganic nitrogen and phosphates are the most serious
pollutants in China’s coastal seas.
Offshore pollution sources. In addition to land-based sources
of pollution, oil spills and other ship-based hazards are a
major threat to the marine and coastal environment.
Another major environmental danger is the introduction
shifted from high-value large fish to low-value small fish,
and from demersal (bottom sea) and pelagic (open sea)
predator fish to pelagic plankton-feeding fish, as well as
from mature fish to immature fish (FAO, 2001). Most of
the pelagic fisheries in the South China Sea are already
exploited beyond carrying capacity. Apart from these
excessive fishing efforts, some techniques used by smallscale
fishers are straining China’s coastal fisheries. For
example, some fishers use cyanide to stun fish while others
employ dynamite, collecting dead fish as they float to the
surface.
REGULATORY AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK OF
CHINA’S MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China
in 1949, the country followed a Soviet socialist
development model. Economic development and
ideological control were the central leadership’s main
priorities. Natural resources were exploited and China’s
landscape was changed to help fuel the country’s
development. Using the slogan “conquer nature and
change nature” Mao’s directives sparked massive dam
building, land reclamation, deforestation, and the
construction of irrigated agriculture in deserts (Shapiro,
2001). Coastal areas were not immune to this exploitation
and with few environmental considerations reclamation
of land from the sea was encouraged to feed the growing
population.
Not until the early 1970s did the Chinese leadership
CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6 69
began to acknowledge the magnitude of the country’s
environmental crisis. The decades of destructive
development campaigns had taken their toll on China’s
environment and posed threats to development. The forest
and agricultural devastation brought about by the Great
Leap Forward (da yuejing) movement created in the early
1960s the biggest famine ever in human history (Shapiro,
2001). Mao Zedong’s policy to encourage births led to
the near doubling of population in two decades—830
million people by 1993 (Smil, 1993)—adding terrific
pressure on natural resources and land. The Chinese
leadership’s environmental awareness also was raised by a
delegation that participated in the UN Conference on
the Human Environment (UNCHE) held in Stockholm
in 1972. Shortly after the conference, the Chinese central
government introduced a population control policy,
created a national environmental protection agency, and
began to promulgate national environmental laws. China’s
continued participation in international environmental
agreements and dialogues have helped push Chinese
policymakers to build regulatory and institutional
frameworks for environmental protection, including
marine environment protection.
Regulatory Framework of
Marine Environment Protection
In 1973, the State Council held the first national
conference on environmental protection, resulting in the
adoption of Several Rules on Protecting and Improving
the Environment. The State Council began building on
this priority-setting draft legislation by promulgating
more detailed laws for specific environmental problems,
such as the 1974 Provisional Regulations on the
Prevention of Pollution of Coastal Waters (Palmer, 1998).
After the beginning of economic reforms in 1980, the
Chinese leadership began to create a comprehensive
system of laws and institutions to protect the
environment.2
The 1982 Chinese Constitution laid out for the first
time the basic principle that the state was responsible for
protecting the environment.3 Marine protection received
high-level prioritization in China’s 1989 Environment
Protection Law, which stated, “the State Council and the
people’s governments at various levels in coastal areas shall
provide better protection for the marine environment”
(Article 21). It was not until a decade later, however, that
a more stringent Marine Environmental Protection Law
was passed to replace the more general 1982 law. This
marine law came into force on 1 April 2000 and contains
many new provisions that, if implemented, could
significantly improve coastal quality in China (China’s
Environment Yearbook, 2001). In addition to encouraging
strong leadership and marine protection projects, the new
marine law stipulates:
• Land-based pollution treatment will be an essential
part of marine environmental protection;
• Ecological protection will be a new priority, which
means environmental agencies at all levels should
strengthen integrated coastal management (ICM) and
actively take measures to protect mangroves, coral reefs,
and coastal wetlands;
• The planning and implementation of the Bohai
Action Plan will be accelerated in order to become a
model for comprehensive marine environmental
protection in China;
• Comprehensive coastal management will be carried
out by following coastal area environmental function
zoning management measures; and,
• Better coordination and cooperation between agencies
is crucial to implement and monitor integrated coastal
management and protection efforts.
Other laws that focus on specific marine issues
include the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
Law (1996), Water and Soil Conservation Law (1991),
and the Fisheries Law (1986). Some of China’s major
regulations on marine environment include:
• Provisional Regulations on Environment Control for
Economic Zones Open to Foreigners (1986);
• Regulations of the PRC on the Control over Dumping
Wastes into Sea Waters (1985); and,
• Regulations of the PRC on the Control over
Prevention of Pollution by Vessels in Sea Waters (1983).
International Marine Agreements
In addition to domestic legislation, China has actively
participated in international cooperation on marine
environment protection. China ratified: (1) International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships,
1973, As Modified by the Protocol of 1978 Relating
Thereto (MARPOL 1973/1978) in 1983; (2) Convention
on the Prevention of Marine Pollution of Wastes and
Other Matter in 1985; and (3) UN Convention on Law
of the Sea in 1996. These three conventions have assigned
ratifying countries specific obligations to control marine
pollution from different sources. Additionally, after
somewhat low-key participation in the 1972 UN
conference in Stockholm, China has more actively
participated in subsequent UN environmental summits
70 CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6
FEATURE ARTICLES
and forums. Following the model of the global Agenda
21 formulated at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro, the State Council created the China Ocean
Agenda 21 in 1996, which proposed a sustainable
development strategy for China’s marine areas. The China
Ocean Agenda 21 is significant not only because it
revealed high-level prioritization of marine protection,
but also because it equally stressed development and the
protection of the environment and encouraged all levels
of government to devise a program for the coordinated
development and protection of marine resources.
In general, China’s legislation on marine environment
has developed fast over the past two decades and created
a relatively comprehensive legal framework for marine
environment protection. The quality of coastal and marine
areas has, however, continued to degrade, due to the lack
of implementation of marine protection laws and
regulations.
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS FOR MARINE
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
The institutional arrangements for marine environment
protection in China consist of a complex array of agencies
and organizations. The main institutions in the central
government that cover marine protection issues include
the State Commission on Environmental and Natural
Resources Protection and the State Council Committee
for Environmental Protection. These two central entities
are responsible for the general environmental
policymaking, legislation, national plans, as well as
supervision and coordination of the provincial activities
in environmental protection. Four other central
institutions have been given specific roles and
responsibilities to protect marine environmental quality
under the 1999 Marine Environmental Protection Law.
State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
SEPA is in charge of the overall guidance, coordination
and supervision of the country’s marine environment
protection, and specifically takes responsibility for the
prevention of marine pollution from land-based sources
and coastal construction projects.
State Oceanic Administration (SOA). SOA is responsible
for monitoring and managing the marine environment,
organizing marine environment surveys, and conducting
scientific research. It also takes responsibility for the
prevention and control of pollution from offshore
construction projects and marine dumping.
State Harbor Superintendence Administration (SHSA).
SHSA is responsible for the supervision and management
of pollution from non-fishing and non-military vessels
in its jurisdictional harbors. It is obliged to investigate
pollution incidents.
State Fishery Administration (SFA). SFA is responsible for
the supervision and management of pollution from
fishing vessels outside of harbors, and the protection of
ecosystems in fishing areas.
People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The PLA’s environmental
protection departments are responsible for the supervision
and management of pollution and related incidents
involving military vessels.
While these central institutions directly report to the
State Council or their related ministries, none of these
institutions has lead authority over marine environment
issues. There is no integrated planning that addresses
interactions among these institutions or their lower level
agencies. Therefore, various conflicts over coastal and
marine use exist among agencies and organizations
engaged in port construction, mariculture, land
reclamation, maintenance of scenic tourism resources, and
marine environmental protection—each institution acts
on their sectoral interests rather than national interests.
Thus, coordination between these environmental, marine,
and military institutions tends to be unsystematic and
based on personal capacity of their leaders.4 The division
of marine protection responsibilities among these
institutions is often ambiguous and overlapping
(especially between SEPA and SOA), which means the
marine environment governing system has remained
largely fragmented and even competitive. The internal
competition and poor coordination among these
institutions prevents their voices from being integrated
into central policymaking on industrial, agricultural, and
urban development.
When a particularly serious marine problem arises,
it is usually handled through ad hoc discussions between
government agencies. In these situations, Chinese
policymakers sometimes craft solutions more on political
rather than environmental considerations. To appease
competing agencies the central government has to
consider “equal distribution” of funding, sometimes even
ignoring the capacity and advantages of individual
institutions.
THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN MARINE
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6 71
Despite China’s fast development of legal and institutional
frameworks for marine environmental protection, the
country’s marine environment continues to degrade. The
cause of this degradation is attributed to:
1) The overwhelming speed of industrialization and
urbanization;
2) China’s sectoral approach to addressing the marine
environment;
3) A governing system in which economic agencies
dominant over environmental protection agencies;
4) Insufficient state capacity at the central level to
less than 11 percent (Wang, 1997). The central
government’s share of total government revenue fell from
two-thirds at the beginning of the reform to one-third in
1993, which posed a particularly serious challenge. In
real terms, the GDP has grown more than five times and
the total government revenues have doubled, but the
central government revenue has remained almost constant
since 1978 (Wang, 1997).
Economic, political, and social reforms have
improved the livelihoods of many Chinese, but also
created a variety of social problems. In the 1990s, more
than two-thirds of the state-owned enterprises (SOEs)
were unable to compete in the free market and were
The central-local struggles in China over environmental policy
implementation are complex and must be seen in the larger context of
economic and political reforms that began in 1979.
coordinate an integrated marine environment agenda;
and,
5) An absence of incentives at the local level to
implement environmental and natural resource
protection policies.
In the first issue of the China Environment Series
Kenneth Lieberthal aptly sums up the dismal reality of
the last point, stating that within China “[m]uch of the
environmental energy generated at the national level
dissipates as it diffuses through the multi-layered state
structure, producing outcomes that have little concrete
effect” (1997, p.3). While the central government has
devolved considerable authority to local levels and does
allow some policies to be “adjusted to local conditions”
(shihe dangdi qingkuang), in the environmental sphere
some emissions standards, polluter fine rates, and other
regulations are issued as a one-size-fits-all, which creates
local opposition.5 The central-local struggles in China
over environmental policy implementation are complex
and must be seen in the larger context of economic and
political reforms that began in 1979.
STATE CAPACITY AND DECENTRALIZATION
The deteriorating fiscal and budgetary problems caused
in part by economic reforms created challenges for the
Chinese government to meet increasing demand for
public services. In the period between 1978 and 1996,
China’s real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by
nearly 10 percent annually. The ratio of government
revenue to GDP, however, fell from almost 31 percent to
operating on deficit, requiring tremendous fiscal assistance
from the central government (Holz, 2001). As indebted
SOEs and mines increased layoffs and rural poor fled to
cities, unemployment rates have climbed precipitously
high and social protests are mounting. The central
government faces pressures to create a social security
system and affordable health care to replace the former
cradle-to-grave work unit system. Facing these numerous
demands from citizens, as well as troubles in dealing with
mounting government corruption, it is not surprising the
central leadership does not always prioritize
environmental concerns. Marine environment protection,
which is less imposing and obvious than polluted rivers
and urban air pollution, is not even among the top
environmental issues.
In order to relieve the central government from fiscal
and political burdens and improve the ability of the
government to effectively address emerging issues, the
Chinese government has accelerated the economic and
political decentralization reform that began in the late-
1970s. The major objectives of devolving economic
authority were to: (1) make localities fiscally self-sufficient,
(2) relieve the central government’s fiscal burden, and (3)
provide incentives to local authorities to promote
economic development.
The most important effort of the fiscal reform has
been the division between central and local revenue
collection systems. By the mid-1980s, provinces,
municipalities, prefectures, counties and townships were
subject to a bottom-up revenue-sharing system that
required localities to submit only a portion of their
revenues to the upper levels and then allowed them to
72 CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6
FEATURE ARTICLES
retain all, or at least most, of the remainder (Oi, 1992).
The new tax system granted local governments relative
financial autonomy and stimulated local tax collection.
Increasing local government control over revenue has
enabled the central government to push more regulatory
burdens onto the local levels, which explains why parallel
to the political and economic decentralization, local
governments also have been granted more rights (and
responsibilities) to address local land use, natural resource
management, pollution control, and marine environment
protection.
Local Governance of Environmental
and Marine Protection
Decentralization has granted local governments more
jurisdiction rights in handling local political and social
problems, including environmental protection. In both
the Environment Protection Law (1989)6 and the newly
revised Marine Environment Protection Law (1999)7
there are specific articles regarding the local governments’
responsibilities and rights to regulate marine
environmental protection. These laws allow provincial,
autonomous, and municipal governments (albeit with
central agency oversight) to set local standards for
environmental protection, including marine
environmental protection. Coastal local governments at
various levels also have been bound with obligations to
protect coastal areas in the 1999 Marine Environment
Protection Law, specifically to:
1) Identify marine protection goals and tasks and
integrate marine environment protection into the
government working plans (Article 9);
2) Select and establish marine ecological protection
areas to protect marine living resources (Article 21);
3) Protect coastal facilities, forests, gardens, and
grasslands to prevent coastal erosion and infusion of
seawater (Article 27); and,
4) Strengthen the management and prevention of landbased
pollutants into the rivers to the sea (Article 31).
Changing Local Incentive Structures:
Linking International Communities
with Local Governments
Since the economic growth rate is one of the most
important indicators used to evaluate the performance
of local officials, it is not surprising local governments
have helped their enterprises circumvent environmental
regulations (Economy, 1997). Local environmental
protection bureaus (EPBs) possess the main authority to
implement environmental laws and regulations and
receive policy directives from SEPA. However, EPBs
receive their revenue and report directly to local
governments. This dependence on local governments has
made EPBs hesitant to overly regulate area industries, for
EPBs are in a position of “sanctioning their own ‘almoner’
[alms giver]” (Palmer, 1998, p.794).
On the surface it would appear local government
incentives and the limited capacity of EPBs represent a
near hopeless situation for effective implementation of
environmental laws—in the marine protection sector,
however, there exist opportunities for improvement.
Admittedly, local governance of marine environmental
protection is constrained by: (1) limited financing, (2)
lack of technical and institutional capacity, and (3)
difficulties in reconciling economic development and
environmental protection. However, we contend in this
area, China’s local governments could surmount these
constraints and play a far bigger role if the international
community developed partnerships that helped build the
technical, financial, and institutional capacity of local
governance for marine environmental protection.
By cooperating directly with local governments, the
international community and donor organizations could
not only tackle marine environmental problems more
effectively, but also could educate Chinese local
government officials and change incentive structures to
incorporate environmental protection into the local
development strategies. These officials need to understand
that maintaining sustainable fisheries is not only an
environmental issue, but also an economic consideration.
An enhanced role for local governments is feasible.
Decentralization has provided a political space for local
governments to actively cooperate with the international
community. Coastal economic development in the past
two decades also has created a socioeconomic condition
for better local governance of the environment. The
decentralized tax reform has given the local governments
some surplus finance, which could help coastal cities
sustain international marine protection projects even after
the withdrawal of international funding. Therefore, local
coastal governments with jurisdictional rights, local
financial autonomy, and better information than central
government agencies, should play an important role in
strengthening international projects to protect China’s
marine environment.
Involving Local Governments in International
Cooperation for Environmental Protection
Since its Open Door policy was initiated in 1978, China’s
interactions with the international community have
dramatically increased, particularly in the area of
CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6 73
Project Name Agency
GEF Grant
(million)
Preliminary Assessment to Identify the
Requirement for Developing a National
Implementation Plan in the People's
Republic of China as a First Step to
Implement the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
UNIDO $1.85
Hai River Basin Integrated Water
Resources
World Bank $16.35
Ship Waste Disposal World Bank $30
Biodiversity Management in the Coastal
Area of China's South Sea
UNDP $3.515
Box 1. GEF International Waters Projects in China
Project Name Agency
GEF Grant
(million)
Prevention and Management of Marine
Pollution in the East Asian Seas
UNDP $8.025
Reversing Degradation Trends in the
South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand
UNEP $16.749
Building Partnerships for the Environment
Protection and Management of the East
Asian Seas
UNDP $16.224
Reducing Environmental Stress in the
Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem
UNDP $14.744
Preparation of a Strategic Action
Prgoramme and Transboundary
Diagnostic Analysis for the Tumen River
Area, its Coastal Regions and Related
Northeast Asian Environs
UNDP $5.199
1. Single Country Projects
2. Regional and Global Projects with China Component
Source: Global Environment Facility - http://www.gefweb.org
74 CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6
FEATURE ARTICLES
environmental cooperation (Economy, 1997). While over
50 international environmental NGOs are undertaking
environmental projects throughout China building
partnerships with state agencies, research centers, and
community organizations, only a handful of NGOs are
undertaking activities to strengthen local government’s
environmental protection capacity8 and even fewer address
marine issues.9
Although multilateral organizations (MLOs) have
increased marine environmental aid to China since the
early 1990s, these projects have largely ignored the role
of local governments in dealing with environmental
problems and depended on central government
partners—who often do not possess as much knowledge
on local environmental problems as do the local
governments.
The need in China for building local environmental
governance remains substantial and the potential
contribution for environmental cooperation through
projects financed and implemented by international funds
and organizations is great. Some multilateral organizations
have begun to address this need. Notably, the Global
Environment Facility (GEF)—which alone has funded
over $300 million in environmental projects in China—
has been instrumental in promoting the participation of
local governments though this marine environment
protection initiative. (See Box 1).
GEF INTERNATIONAL WATERS PROJECTS IN CHINA
The GEF was created in 1991 to serve as a financial
mechanism for the implementation of the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
The mission of GEF has expanded to act as the financial
mechanism for the global conventions on biological
diversity, climate change, and persistent organic
pollutants, as well as provide support for projects
protecting international waters. The central mission of
this unique financing institution is to assist developing
countries and countries with economies in transition in
funding environmental projects and programs to address
the underlying causes of global environmental problems
(GEF, 2002). GEF traditionally has implemented its
projects through the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), and the World Bank. Recently, new
agencies are eligible for implementing GEF funded
projects, including the Asian Development Bank.
Despite the lack of a global convention on
international waters, GEF has become the largest single
funding source for several global and regional conventions
and agreements to protect international freshwater basins,
marine, and coastal waters (Merla, 2002).10 The GEF
implementing agencies work with countries to identify
ways of collaborating with their neighbors to reduce
human-induced stress on the shared water body. The GEF
acts as a catalyst to help each of the countries use all
available technical, economic, financial, regulatory, and
institutional measures to initiate sustainable management
strategies for transboundary waters, which will ultimately
help generate global environmental benefits (Uitto and
Duda, 2002). From 1991 through 1999, GEF allocated
a total of $360 million worldwide for international waters
initiatives. One of GEF’s largest international waters
initiatives is in the Partnerships in Environmental
Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA). China
is a key country in this regional marine management
initiative.
GEF’s PEMSEA Initiative
The PEMSEA project aims to create partnerships at local,
national, and regional levels through which the
comparative strength of each sector is maximized for a
more effective management of the coastal and marine
environment (www.pemsea.org). PEMSEA, initiated in
1994, builds upon the successes of the 1993 GEF-funded
project Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution
in the East Asian Seas (1994-1998), which helped GEF
learn lessons in practicing integrated coastal management
(ICM) (Chua, 1998).11 PEMSEA brings together twelve
countries surrounding the East Asian seas in collaborative
efforts to solve problems related to marine environmental
degradation.12 The objective of the project is to assist these
riparian countries to collectively protect and manage their
heavily stressed coastal and marine environments through
intergovernmental and intersectoral partnerships. The
project aims to enhance and complement national and
international efforts by removing or lowering critical
policy, investment, and capacity barriers that are having
negative effects on the management of the coastal/marine
environment in the region. Furthermore, the project
applies environmental risk assessment and risk
management processes to address transboundary
environmental issues in sub-regional sea areas under stress.
PEMSEA includes a broad continuum of
collaborators from international, through national, to
local level organizations. The project’s implementing and
executing agencies, UNDP and IMO, provide links to
global-level marine environment policymaking and also
support capacity development at the national and local
levels.13 The uniqueness of the project is its utilization of
demonstration projects at both the sub-regional and local
levels to develop and test management mechanisms, such
CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6 75
as ICM, that may then be replicated elsewhere in the
region (Ollila et al., 2000). The project has five objectives:
• Developing and implementing ICM demonstration
sites;
• Creating demonstrations of risk assessment/risk
management processes to improve the environmental
management of a sub-regional sea area;
• Enhancing the ability of countries to ratify and
implement international marine protection
conventions;
• Promoting the development of sustainable financing
mechanisms for marine pollution prevention and
management programs; and,
• Establishing an environmental monitoring and
information management network.
Particularly innovative within PEMSEA is the
promotion of extensive partnerships between central
governments, local governments, civil society, and the
private sector. The project not only builds government
capacity, but also provides extensive training to local
citizens and representatives of the news media and civil
society groups. Strengthening the role of the news media
is key to build strong and broad-based constituencies for
coastal and marine protection. The PEMSEA community
component stems from the recognition that local
communities play a key role in the use of coastal resources.
Their actions can either contribute to the continued
pollution and destruction of the coastal environments,
or can provide the solutions to their protection and
sustainable use.
PEMSEA in China
The PEMSEA project utilizes integrated coastal
management (ICM) demonstration sites for developing
systematic and comprehensive management of land and
water resources. Moreover, these demonstration sites aim
to function as centers for training and capacity
development. One such demonstration site is in the port
city of Xiamen, China where PEMSEA is assisting the
local government in building its capacity to develop and
implement ICM strategies for the effective prevention,
control, and mitigation of marine pollution. The Xiamen
demonstration site falls within the jurisdiction of six
districts in Tongan county. Tongan has a population of
1.3 million people and a high gross domestic product of
50.1 billion RMB, making it one of the wealthiest
counties in the region. Overall, Xiamen has experienced
extraordinary economic growth (Li, 1999) as evidenced
by annual GDP over 15 percent between 1995 and 2000.
In the early 1990s, economic openness in Xiamen
created many thriving industries and extensive
development of agriculture and fisheries, including
mariculture. In recent years, coastal tourism has been
gaining in importance. Xiamen also is home to a major
international trade port. All of these economic activities
place considerable burdens on the coastal and oceanic
environment—including the reduction and deterioration
of natural habitats and living resources, siltation and
erosion, retreat of the shoreline, and blocking of
navigation channels. Xiamen officials recognized these
negative environmental consequences would create serious
conflicts and ultimately threaten the city’s future economic
growth.
The established institutional structures and policies
in China were not able to effectively deal with Xiamen’s
serious marine pollution and growing resource use
conflicts. Weak institutional capacity, narrow sectororiented
policies, insufficient legal frameworks and law
enforcement, as well as a generally low understanding of
marine environmental issues were the core constraints the
city needed to address. In order to more effectively deal
with these marine problems, the National People’s
Congress granted environmental legislative rights to the
city in 1994 which led the Xiamen’s People’s Congress to
promulgate a set of laws and regulations related to marine
resources development and environmental protection (Li,
1999).
The original GEF/UNDP/IMO regional marine
project that became operational in the same year was
designed to support these reforms. A path-breaking feature
of PEMSEA was its designation of the Xiamen municipal
government as the lead agency, with the Vice-Mayor
chairing the newly established Executive Committee. The
Executive Committee is an inter-sectoral coordinating
body involving twenty government agencies, such as
planning, finance, marine affairs, land use, environment,
fisheries, port operations, and tourism.
The Chinese authorities, including SOA,
acknowledge the important catalytic role played by
PEMSEA and its predecessor project to strengthen coastal
management (Li, 1999). Since their inception, the projects
were supportive of strengthening ICM legislation in
Xiamen and promoting the use of science in
environmental management. (See Box 2). The work has
empowered the local government to address coastal and
marine environmental issues in a more comprehensive
and cross-sectoral manner.
The PEMSEA project also has contributed to the
“internationalization” of local governance through the
creation of a regional network of local governments
76 CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6
FEATURE ARTICLES
Since its inception in 1993, PEMSEA has assisted the Xiamen municipal government in a series of local environmental
lawmaking activities. The project’s integrated coastal management legislative efforts have focused on: (1) crosssector
coordination in the coastal project review and permit process, (2) scientific decision-making, and (3) the use of
market-based instruments. For example, collaboration between PEMSEA and its Xiamen partners led to the administrative
rules in 1995 on the relocation of mariculture from the shipping area and eel larvae harvesting, which have helped
mitigate conflicts between navigation and fisheries (Chua et al., 1999). In addition, PEMSEA sponsored the scientific
studies on marine functional zonation, integrated environmental impact assessments, and sustainable financing
mechanisms that helped the local government create the Regulations of Xiamen Municipality for Uses of the Sea Area
(1997). The following table provides an overview of the PEMSEA project activities that assisted Xiamen’s legislative
building.
Box 2. Legislation to Strengthn the Role of Local Governments in Coastal Management
Year
1994
• Strengthening local government
commitments
• Public awareness campaigns
• Regulation for Environmental Protection
• Integrated management
committee/office established
• Profile/environment management
plan prepared
• Marine laws reviewed and new
legal instruments proposed
• Regulations for Managing the Resources of Sands, Rocks, and
Soils
• Regulations for the Management of Navigation
• Municipal Ordinance for Egret Nature Reserve in Dayu Island
• Administrative Rules on the Relocation of Aquaculture in the
Marine Area for the Siting of Xiamen Shipyard
• Administrative Rules for Strengthening the Management of
Catching Marine Eel Larvee
• Regulations for the Management of Water Resources
• Yuan Dang Lagoon case study
• Waste problems and
management assessed
• Aquaculture impact study
• Integrated monitoring system
established
• Municipal Ordinance for Managing Yuan Dang Lagoon Area
• Municipal Ordinance for Urban Landscaping and
Environmental Health
• Administrative Rules for Aquaculture in Shallow Seas and
Tidal Flats
• Regulations for Marine Environment Protection
1995
1996
• Integrated environmental impact
assessment
• Functional zoning scheme
developed
• Studies on sustainable financing
mechanisms
• Regulations for the Uses of Sea Areas
• Regulations for the Protection of Chinese White Dolphin
• Regulations for the Management of Tourism
• Government Notice on Implementation of Xiamen Marine
Functional Zoning Scheme
1997
Major PEMSEA Project Activites Legal Instruments
Source: Chua, et al., 1999
CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6 77
implementing ICM in their own countries. At a March
2001 meeting in Seoul, local government units that had
PEMSEA integrated coastal management demonstration
sites formally created the Regional Network of Local
Governments (RNLG). The goal of this network is to
facilitate the sharing of information on implementing
ICM programs. The RNLG provides participating
members various benefits through (GEF/UNDP/IMO
PEMSEA, 2002):
• Strengthening local governance;
• Increasing opportunities for environmental
investments;
• Facilitating the implementation of local Agenda 21
and local implementation of international conventions;
• Increasing national support for sustainable coastal
development;
• Facilitating regional cooperation in marine and coastal
management; and,
• Facilitating partnership and collaboration with
donors.
The Xiamen municipal government hosted the
second RNLG annual meeting on 20-21 September 2002.
The Mayor of Xiamen gave a speech at its opening
ceremony and participants from local governments of ten
East Asian countries presented their ICM experiences at
the forum. The RNLG meeting provided an arena for
the participating local governments to exchange good
practices and lessons learned, and also to obtain
information from the international participants.
CONCLUSIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR CHINA AND THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Despite progress made in the past decades in building
regulatory and institutional frameworks for the protection
of China’s marine environment, the country’s coastal and
marine ecosystems have continued to degrade. While the
root causes can be traced to the rapid expansion of
economic activities, population, and urban centers, the
lack of state capacity and the absence of local incentives
to implement marine environment protection laws
exacerbate the situation. The central government’s capacity
is limited due to both the poorly coordinated institutions
and inadequate financial resources. Localizing
environmental protection is probably one of the most
effective ways to address coastal and marine environment
problems in China. Therefore, building the capacity of
the local governments and stimulating incentives to
support environmental protection should be essential
elements in future domestic coastal and marine
management and protection policies. The international
community would do well to continue to support this
process through joint projects and funding.
The ability and willingness of local governments to
engage the international community in marine and
environmental protection vary greatly across the country.
Generally, local governments in the southeast coastal areas
have built up more capabilities and confidence in utilizing
international sources of technical and financial
cooperation than their western China counterparts. This
is due to their longer experience with attracting
international trade and investment. However,
international assistance organizations have limited
experience cooperating with local governments in China.
Mobilizing this cooperation on a larger scale would thus
demand a major effort of mutual learning. The PEMSEA
case offers some important insights for future
international marine and environmental initiatives with
local governments in China.
The selection of the local partner, for instance, is
important in determining the prospects of an
environmental project and its chances of getting replicated
on a larger scale. In the case of marine and coastal
environmental cooperation, the selection of the partner
should consider not only the degree of coastal ecosystem
degradation but also the willingness of the local leadership
to addressing this issue. Adequate co-financing (either in
cash or in kind) from the local government is also a
generally good indicator of the commitment and
determination of the local government to actively
participate in the efforts.
Certainly, it is not feasible for international
organizations to involve all local governments due to the
size of the country. The aim should, therefore, be to create
specific sites where models and technologies can be tested
and demonstrated. The successful demonstrations should
then be disseminated widely, so as to promote their
replication on a larger scale in China, and potentially
beyond. As the funds available through international
cooperation are limited, replication goals should be carried
out by domestic and commercial financing.
China is still very much in transition both politically
and economically, so it is not surprising the country lacks
the norms and experience on how best to engage and
strengthen local governments in environmental protection
and management. The PEMSEA experience highlights
the need to allow a certain amount of flexibility in the
management of the projects at the local level. A certain
degree of management flexibility, taking into account local
considerations and the special political environment, will
78 CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6
FEATURE ARTICLES
help international partners find the most effective means
of cooperation to benefit the environment and, ultimately,
the people. Building local government marine protection
capacity should be gradual, following the same strategy
Deng Xiaoping used for the economic reforms—touching
the stones to cross the river.
ACKNOWLDEGMENTS
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors
and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Global
Environment Facility or UNDP. The authors would like to
express their gratitude to Alfred M. Duda of the GEF
Secretariat for his invaluable comments on the manuscript.
Sulan Chen is a doctoral student at the Department of
Government and Politics, University of Maryland, College
Park. Her dissertation topic relates to China’s participation
in regional efforts to protect the marine environment. She
worked as a research assistant for the Global Environment
Facility Monitoring and Evaluation Unit from 2001 to
2002. She can be contacted at: schen@gvpt.umd.edu
Juha I. Uitto is a geographer specializing in environmental
policy and natural resources management. He was educated
at the University of Helsinki in his native Finland and the
University of Lund in Sweden where he received his doctorate.
He has worked on development and environment projects in
China and East Asia since 1986. He is presently the senior
monitoring and evaluation coordinator for the Global
Environment Facility unit of the United Nations
Development Programme in New York. He can be contacted
at: juha.uitto@undp.org
REFERENCES
China’s environment yearbook. (2001). Beijing: China
Environmental Science Press.
Chua Thia-Eng. (1998). “Lessons learned from practicing
integrated coastal management in Southeast Asia.” Ambio.
27(8): 599-610.
Chua Thia-Eng, Ross, S.A., Huming Yu, Jacinto, G. and
Bernad, S.R. (1999). Sharing lessons and experiences in marine
pollution management. MPP-EAS Technical Report No. 20.
GEF/UNDP/IMO Regional Programme for the Prevention
and Management of Marine Pollution in the East Asian Seas,
Quezon City, Philippines.
China Ocean Press. (2000). China marine statistical yearbook
2000. Beijing: China Ocean Press.
Economy, E. (1997). Environmental scarcities, state capacity, civil
violence: The case of China. Washington, DC: American
Academy of Arts and Sciences.
FAO. (2001). World fisheries and aquaculture atlas. CD-ROM.
Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations.
GEF. (2002). The first decade of the GEF: Second overall
performance study. Washington, DC: Global Environment
Facility.
GEF/UNDP/IMO PEMSEA. (2002). Sharing lessons learned
in sustainable coastal development. Second Forum of Regional
Network of Local Governments Implementing Integrated
Coastal Management (ICM), Seminar on Leadership in
Ocean and Coastal Governance and ICM Study Tour,
Xiamen, PRC.
Holz, C.A. (2001). “Economic reforms and state sector
bankruptcy in China.” China Quarterly. 166: pp. 342-367.
Li Haiqing. (1999). “Harmonization of national legislation: A
case in Xiamen, China.” In Chua Thia-Eng and N. Bermas
(Eds.), Challenges and opportunities in managing pollution in
the East Asian seas. MPP-EAS Conference Proceedings 12/
PEMSEA Conference Proceedings 1. Quezon City: GEF/
UNDP/IMO Regional Programme for the Prevention and
Management of Marine Pollution in the East Asian Seas/
Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of
East Asia, pp. 355-371.
Lieberthal, K. (1997). “China’s governing system and its impact
on environmental policy implementation.” China
Environment Series. Issue 1. Washington, DC: Woodrow
Wilson Center, pp. 3-8.
Merla, A. (2002). Contributions to global and regional agreements.
Monitoring and Evaluation Working Paper 8. Washington,
DC: Global Environment Facility.
Oi, J.C. (1992). “Fiscal reform and the economic foundations
of local state corporatism in China.” World Politics, Volume
45, Issue 1: pp. 99-126.
Ollila, P., Uitto, J.I., Crepin, C. and Duda, A.M. (2000). Multicountry
project arrangements. Monitoring and Evaluation
Working Paper 3. Washington, DC: Global Environment
Facility.
Palmer, M. (1998). “Environmental regulation in the People’s
Republic of China: The face of domestic law.” China
Quarterly 156: pp. 788-808.
CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6 79
SEI and UNDP. (2002). China human development report 2002:
Making green development a choice. Stockholm Environment
Institute and United Nations Development Programme.
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Shapiro, J. (2001). Mao’s war against nature: Politics and the
environment in revolutionary China. Cambridge, MA:
Cambridge University Press.
Smil, V. (1993). China’s environmental crisis: An inquiry into
the limits of national development. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
SOA. (2002). China marine environmental quality report 2001.
State Oceanic Administration, People’s Republic of China.
State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (1998). “The
development of China’s marine programs.” Chinese
Government White Paper. Information Office of the State
Council of the People’s Republic of China.
Uitto, J.I. and Duda, A.M. (2002). “Management of
transboundary water resources: Lessons from international
cooperation for conflict prevention.” The Geographical
Journal, Vol. 168, No. 4, pp. 365-378.
Wang Shaoguang. (1997). “China’s 1994 fiscal reform: an initial
assessment.” Asian Survey: Volume XXXVII, No. 9, pp. 801-
817.
ENDNOTES
1 IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee is
currently preparing new regulations for ballast water
management to prevent the transfer of potentially harmful
aquatic organisms into non-native environments. A diplomatic
conference will be organized during late 2003 to adopt the new
measures.
2 The legislative framework for environmental protection in
China is comprised of five levels of laws and regulations: (1)
the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China 1982, revised
in 1989; (2) laws promulgated by the Standing Committee of
the National People’s Congress (and the international
conventions and agreements approved by the Standing
Committee); (3) regulations, orders, decisions and other binding
documents promulgated by the State Council and its
subordinates; (4) regulations, decisions and orders of provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities; and (5) regulations of
local governments at the county level and above.
3 Article 26 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of
China 1982 stipulates, “the state protects and improves the living
environment and the ecological environment, prevents and
controls pollution and other public hazards.” It further reads
“environmental protection is one of the functions and
responsibilities of the state.”
4 Several of the arguments below are supported by interviews
conducted in October 2002 with Chinese government officials
who wish to remain anonymous. Some Chinese government
officials noted that leaders in these main environmental sectors
often could use their own “personal capacity” (personality,
connections, and influence) to determine the conflicts and
coordination among these sectors.
5 For example, nationwide standards for pollution emission fines
would be difficult to set, for rates high enough to gain
compliance in the wealthier industries in the east would
financially cripple businesses in the west.
6 Article 16 of the 1989 Environment Protection Law stipulates
the general principle for the local governments’ obligations to
protect the environment: “the local people’s governments at
various levels shall be responsible for the environmental quality
of areas under their jurisdiction and take measures to improve
environmental quality.”
7 In the 1989 Environment Protection Law, articles 9 and 10
stipulate that “the people’s governments of provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the
Central Government may establish their local standards for
environment quality for items not specified in the national
standards for environment quality…with regard to items already
specified in the national standards, they may set local standards
which are more stringent than the national standards.” The
1999 Marine Environment Protection Law further specifies the
local governments’ rights to set up local marine environment
standards in areas without national standards or higher than
national ones (Article 9).
8 Numbers on NGO activities and projects drawn from the
China Environment Series (2002) Inventory on Environmental
Projects in China. NGOs undertaking local government
capacity building initiatives include: NRDC (local green
building legislation in Chongqing), American Bar Association
(environmental governance trainings in Shenyang, Wuhan, and
Chifeng), Environmental Defense (setting up SO2
emissions
trading pilot projects in Benxi and Nantong), and WWF-China
(numerous forest and natural resource management training
projects with provincial governments).
9 Pacific Environment is one of the few international NGOs
undertaking a marine conservation project in southwest China
(www.pacificenvironment.com). Some marine work with China
is done by Southeast Asian Programme in Ocean Law, Policy
and Management—a research nongovernmental institution to
facilitate information and idea exchange related to current ocean
law, policy and management in Southeast Asian and APEC
regions (www.seapol.org).
10 The two most significant international water agreements are:
(1) Global Program of Action for the Protection of the Marine
80 CHINA ENVIRONMENT SERIES · ISSUE 6
FEATURE ARTICLES
Environment from Land-based Activities, and (2) Convention
on the Law of Non-navigational Uses of International
Watercourses.
11 Since MPP-EAS is the pilot phase of PEMSEA, hereafter in
this paper PEMSEA refers to both projects.
12 Brunei, Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan,
Republic of Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
13 UNDP considers PEMSEA to be an important vehicle for
building national and local capacities in the East Asian region
for the implementation of the Agenda 21 and the Millennium
Development Goals (www.developmentgoals.org).
Environmental Health Perspectives
Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) delivers groundbreaking and trustworthy
information on the environmental health issues facing China and the world today.
EHP covers:
• Water Quality
• Air Quality
• Agriculture and Pesticides
• Toxic Contamination
• Environmental Remediation
• Children’s Health
• And more!
Subscribe today at www.ehponline.org/subscribe and receive:
• Full access to www.ehponline.org with over 30 years of archived content
• 17 print issues including 12 monthly issues with children’s health and
environmental medicine sections, 4 quarterly issues on toxicogenomics,
and an annual review of environmental health
EHP also publishes a Chinese-Language Edition, in print and online,
comprising selected and previously published news articles, original
editorials, and supplemental information.
Visit us online at www.ehpchina.org
For a FREE one-year print subscription to EHP Chinese-Language Edition,
visit: www.ehponline.org/subscribe.
