During the Lianghui meetings, the National People’s Congress approved the largest government restructuring since the Zhu Rongji-led reforms of the late 1990s. The majority of this restructuring can be traced to President Xi Jinping’s desire to empower new ‘super ministries’ to carry out his top domestic priorities, which are to protect the environment, eradicate poverty and to reduce financial risk.
The recently created Ministry of Ecology and Environment will be empowered to draft and more importantly enforce environmental protection regulations. Last winter, with PM2.5 levels dropping 54 per cent in Beijing, we saw the effect that central environmental protection agencies had in coercing local officials to carry out national-level directives. The creation of this new “super MEP” appears to signal that this winter’s crackdown on pollution is not random and that local officials will no longer get away with sacrificing the environment in return for short-term growth.
On Friday afternoon, the European Chamber will host an event titled, China’s New Super Ministry and the Battle for Blue Skies. During the event, Lauri Myllyvirta, from Greenpeace, and Xie Yanmei, from Gavekal Dragonomics, will explain what drove the reduction in pollution last winter and will assess the impact the moves rubber stamped during the lianghui will have on the environment.
After a following discussion also featuring Trivium/China’s Ether Yin, panellists will tackle a number of issues, such as: How has Beijing modified its system of evaluating and incentivising local cadres to carry out central directives? How significant is the constitutional enshrinement of having an “ecological civilisation”? What impact might tougher enforcement of environmental policies have on our member companies supply chains?
Agenda
13:30-14:00 Registration and welcome coffee
14:00-14:05 Opening remarks by European Chamber Representative
14:05-14:35 Is China Winning the War on Pollution? Lauri Myllyvirta, Energy Analyst, Greenpeace East Asia
14:35-15:05 The New Insepction Regime: A Shift in Enforcement Strategy, Xie Yanmei, Analyst, Gavekal Dragonomics
15:05-16:00 Panel Discussion and Q&A
- Lauri Myllyvirta, Energy Analyst, Greenpeace East Asia
- Xie Yanmei, Analyst, Gavekal Dragonomics
- Ether Yin, Partner and Director for Policy Research with Trivium/China
Terms & Conditions
Events have limited seating so to ensure your attendance we encourage advance online registration and payment for all events. We cannot guarantee entry to anyone not registered in advance.
Our events are held in English and follow the Chatham House Rule unless otherwise stated. Post event sharing of presentation materials is at the speaker's discretion.
This event is closed to members of the media
This event was originally titled "The Battle for Blue Skies". The title was amended to reflect the addition of new content based on major policy announcements made after this event promotion was originally published.
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