Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China

Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China

中华人民共和国环境保护部 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Huánjìng Bǎohùbù
Emblem of the People's Republic of China
Agency overview
Formed	March, 2008
Preceding agency	State Environmental Protection Administration
Jurisdiction	People's Republic of China
Headquarters	Beijing
Minister responsible	Chen Jining
Parent agency	State Council
Website	english.mep.gov.cn

The Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China (MEP), formerly State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), is a cabinet-level ministry in the executive branch of the Government of China. It replaced the SEPA during the March 2008 National People's Congress sessions in Beijing.^[1]

The Ministry is the nation's environmental protection department charged with the task of protecting China's air, water, and land from pollution and contamination. Directly under the State Council, it is empowered and required by law to implement environmental policies and enforce environmental laws and regulations. Complementing its regulatory role, it funds and organizes research and development. In addition, it also serves as China's nuclear safety agency.^[2]

History

In 1972, Chinese representatives attended the First United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Sweden. The next year, 1973, saw the establishment of the Environmental Protection Leadership Group. In 1983, the Chinese government announced that environmental protection would become a state policy. In 1998, China went through a disastrous year of serious flooding, and the Chinese government upgraded the Leading Group to a ministry-level agency, which then became the State Environmental Protection Administration.

Organization

There are 12 offices and departments under MEP, all at the si (司) level in the government ranking system. They carry out regulatory tasks in different areas and make sure that the agency is functioning accordingly:

Department structure

Leadership

Minister Xie Zhenhua resigned in December 2005 amidst an industrial pollution scandal by PetroChina, a Chinese national oil company, on the Songhua River in the northeastern province Heilongjiang; local environmental protection officials were accused of protectionism, while senior officials at SEPA were blamed for their underestimating and ignoring the matter.^[3][4]

The Vice-Minister, Pan Yue (潘岳), who has served in SEPA with Xie and is still in power, has been one of the most vocal high-level officials in the Chinese government critical of the current development model. He warned during an interview with the German newspaper Der Spiegel in 2005 that "the Chinese miracle will end soon" if sustainable issues were not addressed urgently.^[5]

Regional centers

In 2006, SEPA opened five regional centers to help with local inspections and enforcement. Today, the five centers are direct affiliates of MEP:

Areas of activities

MEP regulates water quality, ambient air quality, solid waste, soil, noise, radioactivity. In the area of R&D activities, MEP has funded a series of "Key Laboratories" in different parts of the country, including: Laboratory for Urban Air Particles Pollution Prevention and Control for Environmental Protection, Laboratory on Environment and Health, Laboratory on Industrial Ecology, Laboratory on Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Recovery, and Laboratory on Biosafety.^[6]

In addition, MEP also administers engineering and technical research centers related to environmental protection, including: Center for Non-ferrous Metal Industrial Pollution Control, Center for Clean Coal and Ecological Recovery of Mines, Center for Industrial Waste Water Pollution Control, Center for Industrial Flue Gas Control, Center for Hazardous Waste Treatment, and Center for Solid Waste Treatment and Disposal of Mines.^[6]

China is experiencing an increase in environmental complaints: In 2005, there were 51,000 disputes over environmental pollution, according to SEPA minister Zhou Shengxian. From 2001 to 2005, Chinese environmental authorities received more than 2.53 million letters and 430,000 visits by 597,000 petitioners seeking environmental redress.^[7]

In the media

Economic development

Vice minister Pan Yue, a former journalist, said in an interview with http://www.chinadialogue.net that the fundamental cause of the worsening global environmental crisis "...is the capitalist system. The environmental crisis has become a new means of transferring the economic crisis.".^[8] He believes China's role in the environmental crisis "... has arisen, basically, because our mode of economic modernisation has been copied from western, developed nations. In 30 years, China has achieved economic results that took a century to attain in the West. But we have also concentrated a century’s worth of environmental issues into those 30 years. While becoming the world leader in GDP growth and foreign investment, we have also become the world’s number one consumer of coal, oil and steel – and the largest producer of CO₂ and chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions.".^[8]

North Korean nuclear test

After a North Korean nuclear test, the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a press release "to reassure residents that no radioactive particles had been detected in aerosol samples collected" in the Northeast region.^[9][10]

List of ministers

See also

• Environment of China
• China water crisis
• Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China
• Organic Food Development Center
• Ministries of China

References

External links

• Official website (English)
• Official website (Chinese)
• Interview with Pan Yue

State Council of the People's Republic of China
Incumbent (12th): Li Keqiang Government
State Council (Cabinet) (Plenary meeting) members	Executive meeting Premier Vice Premiers State Councillors Secretary-General Ministers of Ministries and Commissions Auditor-General
General Office	Secretary-General Deputy Secretary-General
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Special organization	State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council
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Administrative offices	Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Information/Internet Legislative Affairs Overseas Chinese Affairs Research Taiwan Affairs Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Anti-cult
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State administrations/bureaus administrated by Cabinet-level agencies	Atomic Energy Authority Civil Aviation Administration National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets National Energy Administration National Nuclear Safety Administration National Space Administration State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence State Administration of Coal Mine Safety State Administration of Cultural Heritage State Administration of Foreign Exchange State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs State Administration of Grain State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine State Bureau for Letters and Calls State Bureau of Civil Servants State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping State Cryptography Administration State Language Commission State Oceanic Administration China Coast Guard State Post Bureau China Post State Tobacco Monopoly Administration China National Tobacco Corporation
Special Commissions and Steering Committees	State Commission for Public Sector Reform Commission Office Commission on Food Safety National Energy Commission National Defense Mobilization Commission Leading Group for Coordinating the South-North Water Transfer Project Leading Group for Coordinating the Three Gorges Dam Project Leading Group for the Transformation of the State Council
Other agencies	Liaison Office in Hong Kong SAR Liaison Office in Macau SAR People's Armed Police
State Council is one in the same as the Central People's Government (constitutionally since 1954)