The development of Circular Economy in China as a national strategy

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) is a trending concept both among policymakers and business actors and is globally recognized as the leading driver towards a knowledge-based economy. Many countries have spent great effort promoting it and China is among the firsts to have engaged in the pursuit of CE on a large scale.

In this contribution we will explicate the evolutionary process of CE in China by (a) investigating the circumstances that prompted its adoption as a national strategy, (b) providing an up-to-date review of China’s policy efforts in introducing a legal framework to support its implementation nationwide and (c) elaborating on the underlying barriers and challenges to the full implementation of a CE model. Firstly, we will contextualize the development of CE by looking into China’s era of unfettered industrialisation of the early ‘90s. This will serve as a link to determine that the Chinese perspective on the CE is broad and it is built as a response to the environmental and resource management crisis against the background of the international scenario. Secondly, we will illustrate the current situation of circular economy practice in China to identify the different levels of support and enforcement of this economic system. To do so we will focus on the recent changes in the environmental legislation and related reforms. Particular attention will be given to the Circular Economy Promotion Law (2009), China’s main national-level framework for pursuing the CE; the 11th Five year-plan; the 12th Five year-plan, in which the circular economy was first upgraded to a national development strategy; the 13th Five year-plan; the 2018 Memorandum of Understanding on Circular Economy Cooperation. Finally, the paper will identify the underlying barriers and challenges to the full implementation of the concept in China as a national strategy. Despite the enduring efforts that have been made, to succeed in its mission it is clear that the Chinese government needs to build a more exhaustive system of designing a strategic CE policy, strengthen reliance on its legislative and administrative capacity, and set more realistic standards to drive the socioeconomic transformation consistent with the goal of ‘ecological civilization’ advanced by the 18th Party Congress of CCP (2012).