Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management

Based on literature reviews, case studies and other information available on the web, this paper examines the evolution and status of strategic environmental assessment in China by reviewing the progress that has been made; discussing the issues and problems encountered and exploring the best way forward. It is suggested that the Chinese EIA system has evolved over the years to cope with the rapidity and scale of development in China and the current emphasis on Plan EIA is probably the most appropriate form of SEA given the political reality and complicated institution setup. Given China's environmental and resource problems, the paper affirms the potential role of SEA in fostering a sustainable and harmonious society and the need to mainstream sustainability considerations in the formulation of national plans and strategies. To circumvent political resistance from line agencies, the paper suggests that SEA can be applied, in various names and forms, to national and provincial socio-economic plans.

After the Law of the People's Republic of China on Environmental Impact Assessment (the EIA Law) came into effect in China (mainland) in September 2003, and notably in 2006, the Chinese government released a series of laws and regulations to strengthen strategic environmental assessment (SEA) application in China. SEA is acknowledged by the Chinese central government as a tool to help achieve sustainable development, and it is employed as an instrument to emphasise environmental protection and "scientific outlook of development" during the course of the current rapid industrial and urban development, to build a "harmonious society", and ultimately to achieve sustainable development. This paper compares the Chinese (mainland) SEA system, its legal requirements, institutional structure and procedural framework with the UK and the Canadian systems, to provide a comprehensive overview of the current status of the institutional and governance arrangements of the Chinese SEA system. The conclusions point to some possible explanations for less than optimum implementation of SEA in China, and suggestions for ways to improve the Chinese SEA system in the future.

Based on socio-economic development and population growth, rapid urbanisation is currently happening in China, leading to urban expansion and land use changes. This, in turn, affects biodiversity, habitats and ecosystem services. It is therefore important to identify and assess the impact of urban development policies (UDP) on ecosystems and their components at a policy level. Ji'nan City, the capital of Shandong Province in Northern China, has been taken as a case study for assessing the ecological impact of UDP. The study found that, influenced by the traditional economy-oriented development strategy, the former UDP of Ji'nan City was mainly focused on urban socio-economic growth by speeding up the construction of urban infrastructure facilities, expanding urban built-up areas as well as strengthening the development of resource- and pollution-intensive industry, which in turn has negatively influenced the ecosystem services. The promulgation of eco-environmentally friendly UDP would contribute to protect and maintain the ecosystems and their components. Finally, recommendations for informing the legislation of new environmentally friendly UDPs and furthering the implementation of ecological impact assessment (EcIA) in China are proposed.

Based on the revision of the Methods for Urban Plan Formulation and the Technical Guidelines of Environmental Impact Assessment for Urban Master Plan (in draft), this paper proposes a management framework for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of Urban Plans. In this context, the urban plan compilation system and the requirements for Urban Plan SEAs are explained. This is followed by the introduction of three types of urban plan SEAs, namely forecasting SEA, monitoring or follow-up SEA, and retrospective SEA. The relationship among the institutions/agencies involved in urban planning SEAs is discussed and three implementation modes are proposed, including an internal-implementation mode, an external-implementation mode and a mixed-implementation mode. Finally, substantive SEA aspects for various types of urban plans are identified.

This paper presents results of a project, funded by the British Academy, on perceptions of SEA effectiveness in two countries with formal SEA requirements, but with very different planning and decision-making traditions: the UK and China. Similarities and differences are described, based on a questionnaire survey, conducted at two workshops with local and regional authority representatives, private consultants and academics; at Liverpool University (October 2006) and at Nankai University (March 2007). Whilst many similarities in perceptions are found, some differences are established, particularly regarding the SEA process (which Chinese representatives think should be more flexible versus UK representatives who mostly think it should be more rigorous) and regarding current shortcomings (lack of real influence and non-existence of relevant baseline data for China; too much unused baseline data for the UK). Overall, there was a more positive perception of many Chinese respondents regarding SEA's potential to lead to more effective decision making, greater efficiency of tiered decision making and an ability to enable more effective involvement.