In recent years, the Chinese government has put in place some of the world's toughest emissions standards for airborne pollutants such as sulfur dioxide. Beijing has also drafted plans to limit coal use in key urban areas and to curb wasteful production in heavy polluting industries. These actions have accompanied pledges by the country's leaders to shift China from a political-economic model that prioritizes rapid growth over the environment, among other things, to one that places more emphasis on environmental protection, quality of life and domestic consumption. So far, however, the government has not equipped environmental regulators with the legal powers and human resources necessary to effectively enforce these measures. Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection Zhou Shengxian has said that his is one of the weakest bureaucratic departments in the world. In recent years, the ministry's piecemeal approach to regulating air pollution — a reflection of its limited capabilities and jurisdiction — has been no match for local governments and well-connected industries that need to maintain high levels of industrial activity for the sake of employment and revenues.
Similar institutional and structural economic constraints have hampered the government's ability to enforce environmental regulations on several other fronts as well, including water pollution and water resource depletion — both acute problems that overlap closely with public anxiety over air pollution in China's northern industrial heartlands. However, the tables could soon begin to turn in Beijing's struggle to curb the worst environmental effects of China's industrial development, with important implications for businesses and investors in traditional domestic pillar industries such as coal and steel. Since taking power in early 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping's administration has outlined a set of measures that, implemented in tandem, could alleviate some of the conflicts of interest that have hobbled Beijing's efforts to enforce environmental regulations. These measures could reduce local governments' reliance on the development-related fees that accompany continuous, rapid growth. Finally, Beijing has begun making efforts to boost the profile, legal jurisdiction and, most important, enforcement and punitive capabilities of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
