Abstract
Lin Chun argues that China's rapid growth has vastly improved the living standards of the majority of Chinese people but it also carries some unbearable social and environmental consequences. This decline of public provision and increasing ecological crises has forced government reform. The competing explanations for China's economic modernization require scrutiny. The emerging public consensus in China today is that growth must be managed in resonance to human and social development, and in an environmentally-friendly manner. As such, this Chinese model in the making could have significant global implications.
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China's relatively high emissions are largely due to its energy-intensive industries and its reliance on coal to meet over two-thirds of its energy needs. Coal-powered power stations are also mostly without equipment designed to reduce emissions.
Before the law was finally adopted by the National People's Congress (NPC) in March 2007, it had been through nine years of experts’ scrutiny and five extensively conducted public readings. The drafting process was an intense struggle and since 2002, various provisional versions had been rejected at each NPC convention due to a strong opposition concerning protection of private property (of which a sizable portion was illegally or unfairly acquired through irregular privatization) at the expense of public property. The new law was adopted only after heavy mending to strike a balance.
After all, for all its limitations, China's revolutionary and socialist project of liberating women made a lasting impact on Chinese society. There have been several significant legal documents produced in the reform era to curb retreats in women's rights and gender equality. A recent example of local effort being the new law adopted by the Shanghai People's Congress in May 2007 (Protection of Women's Rights and Interests). It specially addresses problems concerning labour conditions, wages, and pregnancy/maternity benefits for female workers. Health checks, for example, are now required by law to be performed at least every two years for each employee. In fact annual comprehensive checks for individuals in the state sector have been a common practice for years, which is also a good example of China's prevention-centred approach to public health.
As Scot Slipy, Microsoft's director of human resources in China, told Business Week, ‘We have enough investment at stake that we can usually get someone to listen to us if we are passionate about an issue’. Later under mounting pressure from labour and human rights groups, the EU Chamber issued a ‘clarification’ supporting the law. It is worth noting that trade with China is to a considerable degree trading with multinationals in China proper at lower labour costs, which in turn drive down wages and working conditions in other countries (John Wojcik, www.laborstrategies.org, 10 May 2007).
A set of new energy policies have been proposed since 2003 and special funds allocated for relevant research, subsidies, and tax incentives. China is a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, and the government announced in April 2007 that it would proactively participate in building an effective framework from 2013 to replace the Protocol's binding targets for greenhouse-gas reductions. The target is to produce 16 percent of energy needs from alternative fuels, hydro, and other renewable resources by 2020 (Peter Ford, ‘China moves to shrink its carbon footprint’, Christian Science Monitor, 26 April 2007).
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Examines the emerging consensus towards sustainable human and social development
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Chun, L. Recasting Development in China. Development 50, 11–16 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.development.1100411
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.development.1100411