30 2 Theoretical Foundations
2.3.6 Circular Economy in China
Following the death of Mao in 1976, China experienced rapid economic growth
that lasted a decade. This growth was accompanied by massive land degradation,
deforestation, desertification, water depletion and a loss of biodiversity (Su et al.
2013). The significant impact on the environment led to serious social and economic
problems. Health issues and the rapid depletion of resources brought the authorities
to the conclusion that new consumption and production patterns would have to
be found in order for the economy to continue growing without compromising
the health of the population and environmental biodiversity (Naustdalslid 2014).
This acknowledgement led China to enact the Circular Economy Promotion Law.
Mathews and Tan describe the way in which the Chinese have embraced the con-
cept of circular economy as ‘thinking further’ because “only in China has a circular
economy been made the object of official development goals and been taken from the
realm of environmental policy into the realm of development and economic policy”
(Mathews and Tan 2011, p. 437). This reveals the great value placed on this concept
by the Chinese government.
The circular economy in China forms part of a strategy designed to achieve aharmonious relationship between society and nature. As a result, the Chinese concept
of circular economy has a more deeper and broader understanding to it compared
to how the concept has been interpreted by other countries (Naustdalslid 2014).
In 1998 scholars in China proposed the country’s transition to a circular economywhen they started to realize that the country’s single-minded focus on economic
growth and industrial expansion would lead to serious environmental problems
(Naustdalslid 2014). In 1999, the State Environmental Protection Administration
(SEPA) started to promote the circular economy by initiating a series of projects
across the country. Furthermore, SEPA developed and published guidelines on how
the circular economy could be developed in China. Early projects focused mainly on
waste recycling and often lacked an adequate evaluation of cost and technological
feasibility. This led to the realization that the circular economy approach could be
even more efficient when projects moved away from simple waste recycling to the
adjustment of the industrial structure, the development of new technologies and
the reformation of industrial policies. As a result, the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC) was given the task of leading on the development of
the circular economy approach. In 2002, the government formally announced that
the circular economy was now part of its development strategy to enable economic
growth without overexploiting natural resources.
While SEPA continues to play an important role in supporting the implementationof the circular economy in China, the decision to establish the NDRC symbolized