Editing Ministry of Ecology and Environment

{{Short description|Department of the State Council of the People's Republic of China}}
{{expand Chinese|date=March 2023|topic=gov}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China
| nativename_a    = {{nobold|{{lang|zh-Hans|中华人民共和国生态环境部}}}}
| nativename_r    = {{small|''Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Shengtai-Huánjìng Bù''}}
| logo            = 
| logo_width      = 
| logo_caption    = 
| image           = 中华人民共和国生态环境部.jpg
| seal            = 
| seal_width      = 
| seal_caption    = 
| formed          = {{start date and age|df=yes|2008|3}}
| preceding1      = State Environmental Protection Administration
| preceding2      = 
| dissolved       = 
| superseding     = 
| jurisdiction    = [[Government of China]]
| headquarters    = [[Beijing]]
| employees       = 
| budget          = 
| minister1_name  = [[Huang Runqiu]]
| minister1_pfo   = [[Minister of Ecology and Environment|Minister]]
| deputyminister1_name = [[Sun Jinlong]]
| deputyminister1_pfo = Party Committee Secretary
| deputyminister2_name = [[Zhai Qing]]
| deputyminister2_pfo = 
| deputyminister3_name = [[Zhao Yingmin]]
| deputyminister3_pfo = 
| deputyminister4_name = [[Guo Fang]]
| deputyminister4_pfo = 
| deputyminister5_name = [[Dong Baotong]]
| deputyminister5_pfo = Administrator of [[National Nuclear Safety Administration]]
| chief1_name     = [[Liao Xiyuan]]
| chief1_position = Leader of Discipline Inspection & Supervision Team
| chief2_name     = [[Liu Bingjiang]]
| chief2_position = Chief Engineer
| chief3_name     = [[Tian Weiyong]]
| chief3_position = Chief Engineer for Nuclear Safety
| chief4_name     = [[Xie Zhenhua (politician)|Xie Zhenhua]]
| chief4_position = [[Special Envoy for Climate Change of China|Special Envoy for Climate Change]] (ministerial-level)
| chief5_name     = 
| chief5_position = 
| chief6_name     = 
| chief6_position = 
| chief7_name     = 
| chief7_position = 
| chief8_name     = 
| chief8_position = 
| chief9_name     = 
| chief9_position = 
| parent_department = 
| parent_agency   = [[State Council of the People's Republic of China|State Council]]
| child1_agency   = 
| child2_agency   = 
| website         = {{Official URL}}
| agency_type     = [[Ministries of the People's Republic of China|Constituent Department of the State Council]] (cabinet-level executive department)
}}

The '''Ministry of Ecology and Environment''' is an [[Ministries of the People's Republic of China|executive-department]] of the [[State Council of the People's Republic of China]], responsible for the ecological and environmental affairs. It is the 15th-ranked department in the State Council.

The Ministry is the nation's environmental protection department charged with the task of protecting China's air, water, and land from pollution and contamination. Directly under the [[State Council of the People's Republic of China|State Council]], it is empowered and required by law to implement environmental policies and enforce environmental laws and regulations. Complementing its regulatory role, it funds and organizes research and development.

==History==
In 1972, Chinese representatives attended the First [[United Nations Conference on the Human Environment]], held in [[Sweden]]. The next year, 1973, saw the establishment of the Environmental Protection Leadership Group. In 1983, the Chinese government announced that environmental protection would become a state policy. In 1998, China went through a disastrous year of serious flooding, and the Chinese government upgraded the Leading Group to a ministry-level agency, which then became the State Environmental Protection Administration.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

In March 2008, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) was established, replacing the State Environmental Protection Administration.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

During 2016–2017, the MEP temporarily shut down approximately 40% of all Chinese factories as part of an environmental protection campaign.<ref name=":9223">{{Cite book |last=Ding |first=Iza |title=Greening East Asia: The Rise of the Eco-Developmental State |date=2020 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=978-0-295-74791-0 |editor-last=Esarey |editor-first=Ashley |location=Seattle |chapter=Pollution Emissions Trading in China |jstor=j.ctv19rs1b2 |editor-last2=Haddad |editor-first2=Mary Alice |editor-last3=Lewis |editor-first3=Joanna I. |editor-last4=Harrell |editor-first4=Stevan}}</ref>{{Rp|page=90}}

Pollutant trading programs were administered under the MEP and local Environmental Protection Bureaus until 2018.<ref name=":9223"/>{{Rp|page=78}}

In 2018, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) was established as part of the [[deepening the reform of the Party and state institutions]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Joanna I. |title=Cooperating for the Climate: Learning from International Partnerships in China's Clean Energy Sector |date=2023 |publisher=The [[MIT Press]] |isbn=978-0-262-54482-5 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref>{{Rp|page=95}} replacing the MEP.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2008-03-11/152315124637.shtml |title = 华建敏：组建环境保护部加大环境保护力度_新闻中心_新浪网 |publisher=[[Sina Corp]] |access-date=2013-02-12 }}</ref> A number of environmental policy functions were merged from other ministries into the MEE, including climate policy previously under the [[National Development and Reform Commission]] (NDRC) and a number of environmental policy functions previously under the [[Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of Water Resources]] and the [[State Oceanic Administration]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=95}} Pollutant and carbon emissions trading programs, which had previously been under the MEP's jurisdiction, were also placed within the MEE's control.<ref name=":9223"/>{{Rp|page=78}}

In 2019, the MEE established the [[Belt and Road Initiative|BRI]] International Green Development Coalition as a joint project with the environmental agencies of twenty-five other countries.<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last1=Shinn |first1=David H. |title=China's Relations with Africa: a New Era of Strategic Engagement |last2=Eisenman |first2=Joshua |date=2023 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-21001-0 |location=New York |author-link=David H. Shinn}}</ref>{{Rp|page=60}}

==Role==
According to regulations concerning the Ministry, the MEE is responsible for protecting, regulating, and monitoring the environment, as well as enforcing environmental policies.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=11 September 2018 |title=生态环境部职能配置、内设机构和人员编制规定 |trans-title=Regulations on the functional configuration, internal structure and staffing of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment |url=https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2018-09/11/content_5320982.htm |access-date=4 October 2023 |website=[[State Council of the People's Republic of China]]}}</ref> It is responsible for pollution control, conserving the ecosystem, formulating environmental standards, conducting environmental impact assessments, environmental protection inspections, addressing climate change, supervising emissions reduction targets, supervising nuclear safety, as well as international environmental cooperation.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":022">{{Cite web |title=Decoding Chinese Politics |url=https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute/decoding-chinese-politics |access-date=2 October 2023 |website=[[Asia Society]]}}</ref> It also has jurisdiction over China's [[nuclear safety]] agency.<ref>[http://english.sepa.gov.cn/xztz/jgzn/gszn/200405/t20040513_50000.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503041607/http://english.sepa.gov.cn/xztz/jgzn/gszn/200405/t20040513_50000.htm|date=2007-05-03}}</ref>

MEE regulates water quality, ambient air quality, solid waste, soil, noise, radioactivity. In the area of R&D activities, MEE's predecessor MEP has funded a series of "Key Laboratories" in different parts of the country, including: Laboratory for Urban Air Particles Pollution Prevention and Control for Environmental Protection, Laboratory on Environment and Health, Laboratory on [[Industrial ecology|Industrial Ecology]], Laboratory on Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Recovery, and Laboratory on Biosafety.<ref name="english.sepa.gov.cn">[http://english.sepa.gov.cn/kjbz/index.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008042847/http://english.sepa.gov.cn/kjbz/index.htm|date=October 8, 2007}}</ref>

In addition, MEE also administers engineering and technical research centers related to environmental protection, including: Center for Non-ferrous Metal Industrial Pollution Control, Center for Clean Coal and Ecological Recovery of Mines, Center for Industrial Waste Water Pollution Control, Center for Industrial [[Flue gas|Flue Gas]] Control, Center for [[Hazardous Waste]] Treatment, and Center for [[Municipal solid waste|Solid Waste]] Treatment and Disposal of Mines.<ref name="english.sepa.gov.cn" />

China is experiencing an increase in environmental complaints: In 2005, there were 51,000 disputes over environmental pollution, according to SEPA minister Zhou Shengxian. From 2001 to 2005, Chinese environmental authorities received more than 2.53 million letters and 430,000 visits by 597,000 petitioners seeking environmental redress.<ref>{{cite web |title=Environmental protection in China: the role of law &#124; Alex Wang |date=5 February 2007 |url=http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/745-Environmental-protection-in-China-the-role-of-law |access-date=2013-02-12 |publisher=China Dialogue}}</ref>

==Organization==
There are 12 offices and departments under MEE, all at the ''si'' (司) level in the government ranking system. They carry out regulatory tasks in different areas and make sure that the agency is functioning accordingly. The MEE is the administrative home of the ministerial-level Special Envoy for Climate Change Affairs, China's top envoy on international climate change negotiations. The Special Envoy is supported by the MEE's Office of Climate Change Affairs, headed by a vice minister.<ref name=":022" />

=== Department structure ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! ''Department''
! ''Chinese Name''
|-
|General Administrative Office 
|(办公厅)
|-
|Department of Human Resources & Institutional Affairs
|(行政体制与人事司)
|-
|Department of Planning and Finance
|(规划与财务司)
|-
|Department of Policies, Laws and Regulations 
|(政策法规司)
|-
|Department of Science & Technology and Standards
|(科技标准司)
|-
|Pollution Control Office
|(污染控制司)
|-
|Natural Ecosystem Protection Office
|(自然生态保护司)
|-
|Department of Environmental Impact Assessment 
|(环境影响评价管理司)
|-
|International Cooperation Office 
|(国际合作司)
|-
|Department of Nuclear Safety 
|(核安全管理司)
|-
|Environmental Inspection Office
|(环境监察局)
|-
|Office of Agency & Party Affairs 
|(机关党委)
|}

=== Leadership ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Position
! Person Name
|-
| [[Minister of Ecology and Environment]]
|[[Huang Runqiu]] 
|-
| Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment
|[[Sun Jinlong]], [[Zhai Qing]], [[Zhao Yingmin]], [[Ye Min]] 
|-
| Head of the Discipline Inspection & Supervision Group Dispatched From the CCDI & the NSC
|[[Kurexi Maihesuti]]
|}

=== Regional centers ===

In 2006, SEPA opened five regional centers to help with local inspections and enforcement. Today, the five centers are direct affiliates of MEE:<ref name=":022" />
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! ''Region''
! ''Head Office''
! ''Enforcement Area''
|-
|Eastern Center
|[[Nanjing]]
| [[Shanghai]], [[Jiangsu]], [[Zhejiang]], [[Anhui]], [[Fujian]], [[Jiangxi]], and [[Shandong]].
|-
|Southern Center
|[[Guangzhou]]
|[[Hunan]], [[Hubei]], [[Guangdong]], [[Guangxi]], and [[Hainan]].
|-
|Northwestern Center
|[[Xi'an]]
|[[Shaanxi]], [[Gansu]], [[Qinghai]], [[Xinjiang]], and [[Ningxia]].
|-
|Southwestern Center
|[[Chengdu]]
|[[Chongqing]], [[Sichuan]], [[Guizhou]], [[Yunnan]], and [[Tibet]].
|-
|Northeastern Center
|[[Shenyang]]
|[[Liaoning]], [[Jining, Shandong|Jining]], and [[Heilongjiang]].
|-
|MEE headquarters 
|[[Beijing]]
|[[Beijing]], [[Tianjing]], [[Hebei]], [[Henan]], [[Shanxi]], and [[Inner Mongolia]].
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|China|Ecology|Environment}}
* [[Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China]]
* [[Organic Food Development Center]]
* [[Environmental Protection Administration]] (Republic of China)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website}}

{{Clear}}
{{State Council of the People's Republic of China}}{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Environmental Protection Of The People's Republic Of China}}
[[Category:Government ministries of the People's Republic of China|Environmental Protection]]
[[Category:Environmental policy in China]]
[[Category:Ministries established in 1998|China, Environmental Protection]]
[[Category:Environment ministries|China]]