Abstract

Sustainability planning is a government’s strategic effort for achieving long-term economic development goals without compromising the quality of the environment for future generations. This chapter first reviews key socioeconomic and environmental challenges facing China that call for sustainable development and the government’s policy responses, followed by a discussion on legal framework and institutional foundations for sustainability planning. Through examining the role of sustainable development in the national five-year strategic planning process, the chapter highlights the critical role of sustainability planning in China’s environmental governance which has evolved from a relatively narrow emphasis on environmental pollution control to much broader actions encompassing goals in socioeconomic development and ecological outcomes. The chapter demonstrates that national sustainability planning is a key policy response to evolving socioeconomic and environmental issues facing the nation and a process for policy makers to prioritize, design, and implement environmental actions at the national and subnational levels. The chapter details the key components of this planning process and its implementation.

Citation

Xu, J., Wang, X. (2022). National Sustainability Planning: China’s Experiences and Lessons. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Global Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-38948-2_88-2