ABSTRACT
Rapid socioeconomic development coupled with constraints on resources, pollution, and ecological degradation have already led to significant impacts on public health, public safety, and social stability in China. To address risk conundrum, a complete environmental risk management system is urgently needed in China. The 2005 water pollution accident at the Songhua River triggered initial efforts to construct an environmental risk management system in China. The unbalanced status among social economic development, environmental risk levels, and public demands for environmental safety has posed great challenges for the construction of ecological civilization in China. The conundrum is how to press forward with China's economic growth and development and not to screw up the environment in whole process management, so that the environmental safety can meet the public demands during the rapid social economic development. Environmental risk management is important to address the balance between the actual risk levels and the public demands.
