Plan C: China’s Development Under the Scarcity of Natural Capital

Abstract

From circular economy to resource saving society, it has gradually been realized that the economic and social development in China is facing the challenge of severe natural capital restriction. With such understanding, we can surely find out that one of the critical issues of China’s modernization drive is whether we can innovatively create a developmental model of a big country under the scarcity of natural capital, as opposed to the traditional modernization Plan A based on the relatively abundant natural capital (Brown 2003). This, in turn, will bring systematic and mechanistic cognition of such current problems as circular economy and resource saving (Zhu 1998, 2001). At present, further theoretical research and political analysis are required. This paper raises some opinions for discussion from three aspects: theory (why), strategy (what), domain and channels (how).