Abstract
China, like most developing countries, faces great challenges from its large population, relative shortage of natural resources and serious environmental degradation. It is, therefore, necessary for China to explore a new path to balance economic growth and environmental protection. For instance, in the report delivered by Chairman Jiang Zemin at the Fifteenth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on 12 September 1997, he urged: ‘As a populous country relatively short of natural resources, China must implement a sustainable development strategy in the modernization drive.’1 He further argued that China should stick to the basic state policies of family planning and environmental protection, correctly handling the relationship of economic development versus population, natural resources and the environment. Apparently, the idea of sustainable development has been considered by some of China’s central leaders as the only viable option to reconcile the tension of the inter-related problems of environmental destruction and economic growth. The notion that the types and levels of production and consumption of goods must be brought in line with the nation’s finite resource base is now getting more support from the state.
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Notes and references
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© 1999 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Wong, K.K. (1999). The Challenge of Sustainable Development. In: Teather, D.C.B., Yee, H.S., Campling, J. (eds) China in Transition. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333983829_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333983829_9
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