Policies, regulatory framework and enforcement for air quality management: The case
of China
Four decades of rapid economic expansion in China has generated enormous pressure
on the environment, natural resources and public health. Alarming smog outbreaks during
the 2010-13 period prompted the government to introduce a number of reforms to control
air pollution, including a re-organisation of environmental institutions, improving
the coordination and integrity of enforcement actions across levels of government,
and the rolling out of a permit system for all stationary pollution sources. This
paper reviews these recent developments, and discusses key remaining challenges. The
paper complements two case studies on air quality policies in Korea and Japan, and
a third case study on international regulatory cooperation on air quality in North
America, Europe and North-East Asia.