ABSTRACT

In terms of GDP per capita and disposable income, China’s economic development since the late 1970s brought about considerable welfare gains for the Chinese population. This did not, however, come without the price of widespread environmental degradation. Though starting from a relatively low level, the Chinese government has taken environmental policy more and more seriously since the 1970s and is currently adapting itself to changes in the environmental consciousness domestically, as well as to respond to increasing calls for a consistent policy from abroad.