ABSTRACT
China began to establish a regulatory system for industrial environmental management and natural resource conservation from 1979 onwards. Following the promulgation of the state Environmental Protection Law in 1979, China started to systematically develop an environmental regulatory system. In 1984 environmental protection was defined as a national basic policy and key principles for environmental protection in China were proposed, which include prevention over control, the polluter pays principle, and strengthening environmental management. After the 1992 UN summit China devoted herself to a sustainable development strategy including a preventive approach. From the first of January 2003 the Cleaner Production Promotion Law came into effect, launching a new; third phase in Chinese cleaner production activities. The Cleaner Production Promotion Law is based on incentives rather than punishments and obligations. Instead of direct government interventions in production processes, the law stresses the importance of guidance, incentives and support to implement cleaner production in enterprises.
