China’s Water Resources Law in Transition

Abstract

China has been on the road towards a transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy since 1978. The rapid industrialization and urbanization has put significant pressure on the environment. Water pollution in China is developing from traditional pollution with conventional pollutants to a compound type of pollution with new and old pollutants interacting with each other, and from a pollution-dominant industry to the coexistence of industrial pollution and agricultural pollution. Traditional water management schemes are not able to meet these challenges. Water resource management, in order to adapt to the new situation, is therefore being reformed.

The main research question in this study is that “how can China improve its transition towards sustainable water resource management, from a governance perspective?” The purposes of this study are to provide policy makers and scholars with a clear background for understanding the regulatory instruments with regard to water resource management in China and to contribute towards improving Chinese policy and legal framework for water resource management. This research is analytical, applied and qualitative with a cross-disciplinary feature, which covers both law and public policy. It applies a three-step diagnostic method and a meta-framework of governance to approach water issues in China. The major research methods of this study include desk research, a case study approach, and a comparative approach.