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From 1990 to 2017, the number of vehicles in China increased sharply from 5 million to 310 million, and vehicle emissions became one of the major sources of air pollution. Among the main sources of PM2.5 in Beijing, the contributions from vehicle sources increased from 5.6% (2000) to 31.1% (2012) to 45% (2017). In 2010, the CO, hydrocarbon (HC), NOx, and particulate matter (PM) emissions of yellow-label vehicles (YLVs) accounted for 46.1%, 47.9%, 63.1% and 86.1% of the total emissions from on-road vehicles. In recent years, China has been implementing a YLV scrappage subsidy policy to control air pollution, and this policy has cost several hundred billion yuan nationwide. However, China has not evaluated the costs and benefits of the policy. Many people question whether the YLV scrappage subsidy policy is worthwhile, but all the stakeholders involved complicate the process of accurately evaluating the true value of the policy. In this study, we evaluated and compared the costs and benefits of the policy in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region based on 1.362 million YLVs from 2008 to 2015. Because of the implementation of the policy, the PM2.5, PM10, NOx, CO and HC emissions in the BTH region decreased by 16.46, 18.12, 174.44, 669.11, and 91.64 kt, respectively, in 2008–2015. The results show that the policy played an important role in reducing pollutant emissions and improving environmental quality in the BTH region. The costs, benefits, and net benefits of the policy were 13.69, 34.03, and 20.34 billion yuan, respectively. The cost-benefit ratio in the BTH region was 1:2.49; at the city scale, Beijing ranked first (1:7.27), and the cost-benefit ratios of Tianjin and Hebei Province were 1:2.06 and 1:1.14, respectively. Of the 13 cities in the BTH region, Beijing had the highest net benefits, amounting to 16.43 billion yuan, while Handan City has the lowest net benefits, amounting to −0.58 billion yuan. The results may provide scientific support for the promotion of older vehicle and diesel vehicle scrappage subsidy policies, the development of cost-benefit analysis (CBA), and effective environmental decision-making in China.

Although nuclear power has gradually played an important role in world's energy consumption, there is still controversy because of the threat of releasing harmful radioactive substances. The public's incomplete understanding of nuclear power's risks and benefits has led to the Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) effects all over the world, especially in developing countries. It is important to analyze the role that nuclear energy plays for human society in a multidimensional manner. Previous studies have investigated the benefits and risks of nuclear power, which mainly focus on economic benefits, and carbon or pollution emissions reduction benefits. Quantitative study on the comparison of health risks and benefits has been lacking. By taking China as an example, we compared the health risks and benefits of nuclear power using a health impact assessment methodology framework. The results show that, under normal operating conditions, the maximum annual disability adjusted life years (DALYs) caused by a single nuclear power plant would be 2.2 h and 11.4 h in 2020 and 2030, respectively. In 2030, the DALYs of the population exposed for 8 h within approximately 80 km of a plant would be between 108 and 9199 years in a severe accident scenario. The health benefits of nuclear power were calculated by avoided DALYs of reduced SO2, NOX, and PM10 of coal-fired power substituted by nuclear power. The avoided DALYs would be 501.0–1658.1 years and 676.4–2942.4 years in 2020 and 2030, respectively. Considering that risk equals consequence multiplied by the probability, developing nuclear power is risk-benefit feasible. More precise risk prevention, control measures and emergency plans (for both normal operation and accident conditions) of nuclear power plant should be put into place, and risk communication should be strengthened (e.g., bringing the scientific-based risk-benefit assessment results to the public, etc.) to reduce the public's NIMBY effects.

The prevention and control of environmental risks, especially incidental environmental risks, are essential for building an eco-environmental safety system. Risk assessment is an important premise and foundation for effective environmental risk management that can provide management priorities. Although many scholars have made substantial contributions to risk assessment of environmental incidents at the enterprise and regional scales, there is a lack of systematic assessment at the national scale. In this paper, we assessed the spatially resolved environmental incident risks at a resolution of 1 km × 1 km in China at the national scale based on risk field and vulnerability theories. Our results show that the proportion of high-risk areas account for 0.5% of mainland China, and the relatively high-risk areas account for 1.2%. The relatively high or above-risk levels are primarily distributed throughout the Yangtze River Delta Region, Pearl River Delta Region, Bohai Rim Region, and Chengdu-Chongqing Region. Spatially resolved maps enable us to understand the spatial characteristics and identify the hot spots of environmental incident risks, which can provide scientific references for macro policymaking relating to environmental risk management. Adjustments to industrial layout and structure are recommended to reduce the risk levels of incurring environmental incidents in China.

Willingness to pay (WTP) for clean air is one of the most important indicators of the public's acceptance of air pollution mitigation policies. However, few studies have characterized the spatial distribution of WTP, explored its “hypothetical bias”, or analyzed its relationship with air pollutant concentrations. To address this gap in knowledge, a nationwide empirical study (N = 9744) was conducted from December 2016 to February 2017 in China. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was adopted to assess WTP based on a scenario, and air purifier costs (APCs) incurred by the public were used as an indicator of WTP in the real-life scenario. The results show that the mean value of APCs (243.81 CNY ( year ⋅ person ) − 1 ) is lower than WTP (275.39 CNY ( year ⋅ person ) − 1 ), which means that the Chinese public may not pay as much money for clean air in the actual scenario as in the WTP scenario. This result is important for predicting and evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of air pollution economic policies. We also observed significant spatial differences in APCs: the public in more heavily polluted areas such as the eastern coastal region, northern coastal region, Middle Yellow River region and northeast region have higher APCs than the public in other regions, the proportion of people who purchased air purifiers and the distribution of APCs positively correlated with concentrations of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O3), while no significant spatial difference or correlation relationship was observed for WTP. This result indicates that pollutant concentration is not the main driving factor of WTP but they are driving factors for APCs, which may provide new evidence for the driving factors of WTP and APCs. Finally, the policy implications behind these results are discussed, providing references and scientific support for policy makers and subsequent research.

The Chinese government implemented a series of policies to improve air quality during the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan (13th FYP). However, the long-term health effects of the 13th FYP air pollution control policies have not been evaluated, and the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought great uncertainty regarding the evaluation of the effects. In this study, we selected 329 cities in mainland China to study the chronic health effects due to the decrease in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) during the 13th FYP. The relative risk (RR) of PM2.5 exposure was obtained from a previous study, and the total premature deaths were calculated. We also applied the grey prediction model to predict the PM2.5 concentration in each city in 2020 to evaluate the impacts of COVID-19. The results showed that the annual PM2.5 concentration was reduced from 49.7 μg/m3 in 2015 to 33.2 μg/m3 in 2020, and premature deaths were reduced from 1,186,201 (95% CI: 910,339–1,451,102) and 446,415 (in key regions, 95% CI: 343,426–544,813) in 2015 to 997,955 (95% CI: 762,167–1,226,652) and 368,786 (in key regions, 95% CI: 282,114–452,567) in 2020, respectively. A total of 188,246 (95% CI: 148,172–224,450) people avoided premature deaths due to the reduction in PM2.5 concentrations from 2015 to 2020. Although the impacts of COVID-19 in 2020 brought a significant reduction of 35.3% in February (14.2 μg/m3, p, Graphical abstract Image 1

As a typical region moving forward on green development demonstration belt, Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is sensitive to profound conflict between coordination development and unbalanced water allocation. Uncovering water transfer network can help improving water resource coordination development from the perspective of water-trade nexus. An integrated framework by uniting the inter-regional input-output (IRIO) analysis and social network analysis (SNA) in this study can estimate not only the scale and structure of water trade pattern, but also the topological characteristic of water transfer network of YREB. Results show that the rank of production-based virtual water volume was roughly in the order of middle, lower and upper reaches except Jiangsu, while the rank of consumption-based virtual water volume was in the order of lower, middle and upper reaches. The provincial virtual water external dependence in YREB was not well consistent with the water resource endowment. Water transfer network was constructed on basis of the inter-provincial virtual water transfers between every two provinces inside YREB. Furthermore, the water transfer network assessment results illustrated the network structural form and revealed the network property and characteristics. Inside YREB, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi were predominant in the water transfer network (from degree centrality), while Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and Anhui acted as the important medium and bridge (from betweenness centrality). The AFAF sector (Agriculture, Forestry, Animal husbandry and Fishery) and Industry sector of Jiangxi, and the Industry sector of Hubei and Jiangsu were the critical exporters in the network. Jiangsu received large amounts of virtual water from many good hubs and also transferred much to many good authorities when acted as bagmen in the network. Some provinces received large virtual water flow but provided few to others, such as Shanghai, and the AFAF sectors of most provinces transferred much to others. Thus, the research results would help understand the regional responsibility transfer in the hidden network linkages of interprovincial and intersectoral virtual water flows.

China has modified its pollution control policy system with such price tools as the pollution charge (PC) policy and the payment for initial emission allowance (PIEA) policy. The aim of PC policy is to compensate for the environment damage caused by pollutants, while PIEA is in charge of the initial emission allowance (IEA) within the emission trading system (ETS). However, since the implementation of PIEA, it has been criticized as redundant because of the similar pricing scheme with the PC. In addition, the existing PIEA pricing approaches have ignored interactions with other policies, such as PC and total emission control (TEC) policies. In this research, we established an optimal control-based model with chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N), two independent pollutants variables, to simulate the water pollutants' PIEA price. Simulation results indicated that emission quantity and optimal social benefit in the PC–PIEA combination scenario was equal to the situation in the PIEA scenario. Under this design, PC compensated for the emission damage, and PIEA paid for the scarcity rent, while PIEA does not duplicate the PC policy. In addition, the PIEA policy has a complex effect on pollutant emission. Because PIEA policy increases the enterprises' discharging cost, most regions' COD emissions are less than the baseline, excepting Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, and Guangdong, in which emission quantities are greater than the baseline. The NH3-N emission shows an opposite trend. The simulation result is that excluding Inner Mongolia, Hubei, Hunan, Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang, the NH3-N emissions in the rest of regions are increased. TEC policy has a significant effect on pollutant emissions and the PIEA price. The COD emission quantity with TEC is lower than that without the TEC policy, therefore, the TEC policy will be effective for pollutant emission control. The pollutant beyond the restricted target will be charged a payment for IEA at a higher price than without the TEC policy.

The Chinese government implemented a series of policies to improve air quality during the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan (13th FYP). However, the long-term health effects of the 13th FYP air pollution control policies have not been evaluated, and the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought great uncertainty regarding the evaluation of the effects. In this study, we selected 329 cities in mainland China to study the chronic health effects due to the decrease in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) during the 13th FYP. The relative risk (RR) of PM2.5 exposure was obtained from a previous study, and the total premature deaths were calculated. We also applied the grey prediction model to predict the PM2.5 concentration in each city in 2020 to evaluate the impacts of COVID-19. The results showed that the annual PM2.5 concentration was reduced from 49.7 μg/m3 in 2015 to 33.2 μg/m3 in 2020, and premature deaths were reduced from 1,186,201 (95% CI: 910,339–1,451,102) and 446,415 (in key regions, 95% CI: 343,426–544,813) in 2015 to 997,955 (95% CI: 762,167–1,226,652) and 368,786 (in key regions, 95% CI: 282,114–452,567) in 2020, respectively. A total of 188,246 (95% CI: 148,172–224,450) people avoided premature deaths due to the reduction in PM2.5 concentrations from 2015 to 2020. Although the impacts of COVID-19 in 2020 brought a significant reduction of 35.3% in February (14.2 μg/m3, p

Following 1427 firm-year observations of China’s heavy-polluting firms because of their significant impacts on climate change, substantial contributions to industrial prosperity, and distinctive governance structure, this study elaborates if firms’ internationalization improves the impact of production factors allocation on sustainable operations. We investigate 5 types of production factors, i.e. capital (asset-liability ratio), labor (production-typed staff size), technology (R&D intensity), information (inventory size), and institution (state-holding size). Empirical findings show that fewer production-typed staff, higher R&D intensity, and higher state-holding all significantly improve sustainable operations, while internationalization is adverse to sustainable operations significantly. Meanwhile, internationalization exercises a significant moderation relationship between production factors allocation and sustainable operations, which is embodied in that the emergence of internationalization encourages slack production factors and varied factors structures to contribute to sustainable operations. Moreover, heterogeneity test sees that there is no obvious difference in the moderation effect of higher and lower degrees of internationalization except such effect exerted on R&D intensity. This study inspires emerging economies’ heavy-polluting firms to enrich the influence path of production factors on sustainable operations by involving in global markets. We therefore suggest using slack resources or varied resources structures matching the high degree of internationalization to promote business sustainability.

To translate scientific evidence into policy decisions, a universal, integrate and rapid–calculation model is needed for estimating the air quality associated health co–benefits of climate change mitigation strategies. This study developed such a greenhouse gas policy assessment model (GHG–PAM) based upon the annually published energy balances tables. To examine the applicability of this model, we select Suzhou, one of the national low-carbon pilot cities located in the east of China, as a case study. It was determined that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Suzhou would increase from 148 million tons in 2010 to 297, 284, 180, and 173 million tons in 2020 under Business As Usual (BAU), Industrial Structure Dominated (ISD), Technology Dominated (TD), and Integrate Carbon Reduction (ICR) scenarios, of which only ICR scenario meets its carbon intensity target. Under the ICR scenario, the implementation of greenhouse gas policies reduces the air pollution associated burden of diseases, measured by Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY), by 44.1% in 2020 compared to BAU, although even with this scenario the burden of diseases would still be higher than that in 2010. In addition, the model can also identify sectors and industries with greater health co–benefits per unit CO2 emission reduction, which provides a useful guide for Suzhou's climate policy makers to formulate cost–effective measures. However, it should be carefully used where there is a mismatch between sectors with high potential for CO2 emission reductions and sectors with high health co–benefits per unit CO2 emission reduction.

The avenues through which booming social media information provision reshape public environmental risk perceptions remained unclear. The release of a documentary titled “Under the Dome – Investigating China’s Smog” in mainland China on February 2015 provides a natural experiment to fill the gap. In the experiment, the public was randomly divided into two groups: people who were exposed to the information (treatment group) and people who were not (control group). To track the dynamic changes of risk perceptions of environmental pollution, we conducted three surveys on the perceptions covering two groups within one week after the treatment (March 2015, survey 1) and six months and twelve months later (September 2015, survey 2 and March 2016, survey 3, respectively). Results show that social media information provision reshapes the public risk perception by increasing self-reported knowledge, reducing trust, and making them more fearful. Raised perceived risk encourage the public to take protective behaviours that are nonetheless accompanied by public panic and collapse of trust. Based on the findings, we recommend that the government and the media pay attention to the periodicity of information provision to ensure its effectiveness on promoting the behaviour shifts and minimize the uncertainties embedded in the information to avoid the violation of trust. In addition, the effects of information provision are found to attenuate over time for all perception factors but not for trust. It also reveals that the positive role of trust building in relieving perceived risk are independent of the information provision process. Therefore, trust building shall be considered as a priority to tackle the challenges posed by a dramatically changed communication environment. The findings have wider implications for the perceptions of general risks not limited to environmental pollution.

Air pollution has caused degraded visibility and gray cityscape in many developing countries. Though this visual change affects daily life from various aspects, there still lacks evidence on how it influences human psychological and physiological wellbeing. Based on a psychophysiological experiment, this study found that degraded cityscape caused by particulate matter (PM) pollution impeded human stress recovery and caused mental discomfort. We exposed 96 college student participants to fixed-scene images with six varied PM pollution levels during a 3-min post-stress recovery. We measured participants’ self-reported and physiological stress before the stressor, after the stressor and after the recovery. Stress recovery percentages among groups were compared. Both self-reported and physiological stress measurements showed that participants viewing clean cityscape photos recovered faster and 30–60% better than those viewing low-visibility cityscape photos. The final stress recovery percentages after 3-min recovery varied among indicators but generally followed a decreasing trend as the visibility impaired. The results convince a potentially indirect pathway through which the gray cityscape reduces well-being by hampering stress recovery. We discuss underlying mechanisms of the recovery-hampering effect of gray cityscape and call for more attention to this mild psychophysiological outcome.

Some previous studies have investigated the impact of environmental risk on housing price, which focused mainly on a certain type of environmental risk. Studies are lacking on the associations between housing price and total environmental risks considering various types of risks within a city. We conducted an empirical study in Nanjing, China. We first assessed the spatially resolved accidental risks of chemical-industrial enterprises, gas stations, expressways, and the cumulative risks of soil heavy metal pollution and atmospheric PM2.5 pollution. We then derived the total environmental risks in Nanjing. Finally, we applied the hedonic price model to investigate the impacts of total and specific environmental risks on housing price. The results show that the higher environmental risks of gas stations and chemical enterprises were associated with lower housing prices. In addition, associations between housing price and the environmental risks of expressways and atmospheric PM2.5 were positive. The different associations for different risks led to an inverted U-shaped association between housing price and total environmental risk. In areas with lower total environmental risks, major risk types were heavy metals in the soil and air pollution risks. Soil and air pollution levels increase as the distance to urban centers decreases. The spatial heterogeneity of soil and air pollution risks is not easily perceived. When people are purchasing a residence, they probably do not consider the risk factors of soil and air pollution but focus instead on the factors of location, structure, and neighborhood. Thus, housing price was positively associated with total environmental risks. In areas with higher total environmental risks, gas stations and chemical enterprises started to show their impacts. Since these risks are high and perceivable, people avoid these kinds of risks, and thus, housing price was shown to be negatively associated with total environmental risk.

Cleaner Production (CP) has been adopted by China as one of the prime tools in its fight against industrial pollution. Understanding enterprises’ willingness to adopt/develop CP technologies is essential to promote the implementation of CP strategies. This paper applied theory of planned behavior (TPB) framework to examine enterprises’ willingness to adopt/develop cleaner production technologies. Based on the structural equation model (SEM), the empirical study of Changshu in China showed that the impact of perceived attitudes and social pressure on enterprises’ adoption/development of CP technologies was significant and positive, while the impact of perceived behavioral control (PBC) on enterprises’ adoption/development of CP technologies was significant and negative. In addition, the direct effect of social pressure on CP behavior intention (BI) was greater than perceived attitude (A) and perceived behavioral control (PBC). Further findings indicated the positive indirect effect of social pressure (SP) on CP behavior intention by influencing perceived attitude (A) of CP technologies. Finally, focused policies are advanced to promote the implementation of CP in China.

Fuel use pattern is crucial to energy saving and pollution reduction, meanwhile, individual fuel choices contribute to the overall pattern of fuel use. By conducting a survey of taxi drivers in Nanjing City in China, this study analyzed the taxis' fuel use pattern in Nanjing and presents empirical evidence on the determinants of taxis' fuel choice. Results show that, the drivers' fuel choices are, to some extent, locked-in by the vehicle models or original fuel types. The inertia of switching from gasoline-powered taxis to natural gas powered ones is associated with personal characteristic factors, such as old age, long experience, and high education, whereas the inclination to fuel switching is usually observed on those who have co-drivers. The high utilization of co-driven taxis makes a better business case on the cost of converting to gas. Vehicle's features, such as validity of vehicle, modification cost during fuel switch, and engine capacity, significantly affect the fuel switch choice of taxi drivers. Seasonal factors also influence the switching choice: more taxis switched to natural gas ones in early summer. Finally, suggestion is given to reduce structural lock-in of fuel choice, cut down the cost of fuel switching, and set extra incentives for such taxi drivers as young and newer during cleaner fuel replacement in China.

The high levels of phosphorus (P) occurring through human activities contribute to the eutrophication. Hence, for mitigating the eutrophication, it is important to understand the quantity of P flows of the different components of local socioeconomic ecosystems, and how the components interlink. In this study, the static substance flow analysis (SFA) model was used to determine the P flows in the socioeconomic ecosystem of Feixi County in 2008, which has typical features of central China. Based on the model, the P flows of six subsystems were identified and quantified: product manufacturing, crop farming, large-scale breeding, domestic breeding, rural consumption and urban consumption. The data and parameters, required for the calculation of P flows in the study, were obtained from official statistical database, questionnaires, face to face interviews and published literature. The study showed that the three largest P flows were imports to the large-scale breeding subsystem, P loss into water of crop farming subsystem, and excrement of large-scale livestock applied to farmland. Moreover, the total amount of P drained from Feixi to the surrounding water environment was mostly originated from the crop farming and large-scale breeding subsystems. Furthermore, due to the low efficiency in P recycling and reuse recorded in this study and the high levels of eutrophication caused by P flows in Feixi, corresponding environmental management strategies to reduce P loss to surrounding water environment have been suggested, which include reducing the application of chemical fertilizers, applying the livestock excrement effectively for planting, substituting the crop feed for the chemical feed, improving the infrastructure for wastes disposal of breeding enterprises, developing livestock manure for other use, purchasing P-chemical materials and products with lower P-containing rate, constructing waste treatment facilities, investing and researching for developing technology on eutrophication reduction, etc. Finally, the quantifiable science-based methods used in this study may be applied toward improving the ecological management efficiency of cities/counties and water quality of the surrounding area.

The GreenWatch Program in China was established to enhance corporate responsibility for pollution control through the public disclosure of firms’ environmental performance. There is, however, limited research about this program. In this study, we analyzed the differences in the responses, both from short-term and long-term perspectives, of the 497 target firms in Jiangsu Province that continuously participated in the program for five years. The results revealed that firms with poorer initial performances than other firms were more inclined to improve their ratings and that their responsiveness was enhanced over time. Wholly foreign-owned firms showed a higher probability of improving their rating results, even with better initial ratings from both the short-term and long-term perspectives. Firms located in areas with higher population densities had a short-term positive influence on improving rating results. In addition, firms belonging to the two main polluting industries (i.e., textile and chemical) had a significant negative influence on changes to ratings from both the short and long-term perspectives, which implied the influence of discharge standards improvement on the firms’ rating results. Finally, the overall improvement in ratings during the study period was not caused by improvements made by target firms with long-term records but by newly participating firms with better performance, from both the short-term and long-term perspectives.

Industrial dyeing processes generate a huge amount of wastewater, because the production lines have to be washed out each time when the dye changes. We propose an algorithm for the optimization of production schedule. It aims to reduce the production time and the amount of freshwater consumption by optimization the groups orders according to color. Furthermore, we develop software based on the genetic algorithm and implement it in a Chinese company. We optimize the schedules in three months of the case company and compare its output to actual data. The results show that compared to the original manual schedules, the optimized schedules cut production time by 10–15%, reduce freshwater consumption by 20–30%, and reduce wastewater generation by about 20%.

The study examines the cost-effectiveness of two wastewater treatment models in China so as to provide a choice for policymaking. We choose the wastewater treatment system in China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park as case study because: 1) its sharing wastewater treatment plant (WTP); 2) its WTP was invested and operated by a private company; 3) its firms did not discharge illegal; 4) accessibility of data. The actual costs are determined by an extensive survey of 493 firms registered with the park. These data are also used to create a benchmark model assuming that each firm complies with environmental regulations by constructing its own WTP. The results show that sharing the WTPs greatly reduces the overall treatment cost. Furthermore, it reduces illegal discharges and improves the overall environmental performance of the park. Finally, it enforces cooperation among companies located in the park and creates a good image attracting more enterprises to join in.

This paper analyzes the functions of a government-oriented disclosure program in China, which rates company environmental performance into five colors and discloses the results to the public. The rating results and their annual changes during 2005–2007 are statistically summarized by using the detailed database provided by municipal environmental protection bureau of the study area: Changshu city in Jiangsu province. The reflexive, deterrent and enhancement mechanisms, preliminarily identified for the disclosure program, are qualitatively evaluated by using the information collected by onsite interviews to 32 program participating firms. In overall, the firms' environmental performances have been improved. The companies with worse rating records would be more likely to improve their environmental performances in the following years. The disclosure program encourages the firms to be more reflexive to their internal environmental problems. The deterrent and enhancement functions of the program are weak due to the marginal pressure from the classified stakeholders such as investors, business partners and creditors. The influence of the public, such as neighboring communities and environmental NGOs, is weak too. Encouraging serious reactions of firm's stakeholders to the disclosed rating results should be addressed in order to enhance the effectiveness of the disclosure strategy.

China has rapidly developed a number of Eco-industrial parks (EIPs) in recent years. In order to promote and regulate their development, two government agencies, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the National Development and Reform Commission are currently engaged in promoting national pilot EIP programs. Both agencies have developed their own management systems, and 60 industrial parks have been approved for construction of national pilot EIPs, among which six parks appear in both lists of the two agencies. This article introduces the practice of the national pilot EIPs. It first describes the management systems and achievements within the two programs, and then summarizes the problems encountered thus far in program implementation. Finally it proposes brief suggestions for future development of EIPs.

The GreenWatch program has been implemented nationally in China. However, whether the program and its process have been effective in improving firms' environmental performance remains unclear. Based on the stakeholder theory, this paper conducts a comparative analysis between firms participating in the program and those that do not, all of which are based in Changshu City in the developed part of Jiangsu Province, China. Data suggest that GreenWatch encourages firms to improve and disclose their environmental performance. Through pressures imposed by different stakeholders—from the government, investors, and consumers, to the public, such as the community and media—this program has become the main driving force for improving the firms' environmental performance. The current study also provides substantial evidence that public disclosure in China opens up channels for effective public participation. Therefore, the GreenWatch program deserves to be promoted in China.

There are increasing pressures being put on firms, from a number of different sources, such as governmental regulation, community participation and market demand, to engage firms in environmental initiatives. These factors play different roles at various development periods. Government regulation was the major pressure, initially. However, community participation and market demand have become more and more important. Thus a better understanding of the determinant factors that play a role in engaging firms to take environmental management initiatives may help policy makers develop more effective environmental policies. Using data collected from 89 firms in Wujin county of Jiangsu Province, China, this paper developed an index system to evaluate the corporate environmental management performance. Furthermore, we used econometric methodology to identify the main factors that probably shape corporate environmental management performance, including both external pressures and firm characteristics. The results showed that pressures from supply chain, customers, and communities played positive roles in engaging firms to improve environmental management performance. However, the pressure from the regulatory system did not implicate positive effect on environmental management performance when basic compliance is not an issue in the region anymore. The results also showed that firms with larger scale will be more active in engaging in environmental management initiatives. Finally, our results suggest that: (a) regulation's stimulation may be reduced as long as firms have complied with requirements of local environmental standards and other environmental laws; (b) policy makers should pay more attention to market and information instruments; (c) more financial and technical support should be provided to encourage small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improve environmental performance.