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Institutional reform, economic changes, and local environmental management in China: the case of Guangdong province

Abstract The governing institutions in China have been undergoing many subtle transformations, especially in the past decade and a half, partly as a response to various challenges posed by the rapidly changing socio-economic landscapes. Many of these institutional transformations, together with related economic changes, have had an impact on environmental management work. Drawing on interviews with local Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) officials in five cities in Guangdong Province this article examines how their work has been affected by four sets of changes – (1) the introduction of the new system of ‘two separate lines for revenues and expenses’, in which local EPBs are no longer allowed to retain a portion of the pollution fees and fines they collect; (2) the increased spinning off of core functions from EPBs to service and enterprise organisations; (3) the introduction of a new environmental quality administrative leadership responsibility system; and (4) the gradual disappearance of state-owned enterprises. These changes can potentially create a more politically independent, but more accountable, administrative system for carrying out environmental management work. Yet many challenges remain that will limit the capacity of the Chinese environmental management system.