Why did the CCP Politburo meeting rare escalate environmental supervision?

On March 31st, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held a meeting where environmental protection issues unusually became the core agenda, attracting attention from the public. One of the agenda items was the review of the “Regulations on Ecological Environment Protection Inspection,” which, following the review, officially became effective, elevating the legal status of environmental supervision and making it a document within the CPC. This signifies that environmental issues are no longer solely within the realm of administrative oversight but now hold higher political significance. With this year being termed the “Environmental Protection Grand Year” for the CPC, the launch of new regulations in April, particularly the dispatch of a new round of central inspections, suggests an advanced positioning by the Central Committee meeting.

Political commentator Li Lin pointed out that recent policies issued by the CPC are a response to the severe pollution issues on the Chinese mainland, which have been fueling public outrage. In the current economic downturn in China, societal grievances are rampant. If the CPC does not temporarily curb these issues, it could lead to large-scale public protests.

In recent years, mainland China has seen various serious environmental pollution incidents that have raised concerns within the society. In February this year, netizens in Chongqing’s Jiangjin District noticed foul-smelling black sewage being discharged into the Yangtze River, with black ink-like water flowing in the canal, emitting a strong odor. Drone footage capturing this scene revealed the ecological crisis hidden behind the covert discharge of pollutants.

Back then, a blogger’s post expressed concern that it would be hard to cover up such a significant issue. Those releasing the wastewater were clearly doing so knowingly and intentionally, indicating the malice within them. Identifying the perpetrators of such actions should not be a difficult task. Perhaps these individuals wield vast influence and connections. Ultimately, raising penalties symbolically and then quickly resuming operations after a brief closure has become a norm.

As reported by official media, completely eradicating the foul smelling water bodies poses a significant challenge, with frequent occurrences of blue-green algae blooms in some key lakes. Coordinated management of the “water resources, water environment, and water ecosystem” is still in its early stages.

In late March this year, a notice issued by the government of Yongxing County, Hunan Province, revealed abnormal levels of thallium in the surface water of the Dahe River Beach located between Leishui, Chenzhou and Hengyang, causing cross-city pollution and threatening downstream drinking water safety.

In 2023, Nanjing Shengke Water Services Co., Ltd. was fined 500 million yuan for discharging pollutants into the Yangtze River and ordered to pay 4.7 billion yuan in ecological and environmental damages. In November 2022, a thallium pollution incident in the Jinjiang River basin in Jiangxi Province resulted in thallium concentrations exceeding standards in three centralized drinking water sources along the river, posing a threat to the water quality of the Gan River downstream. Investigation revealed that the illegal discharge of pollutants by Jiangxi Qijing Materials Co., Ltd. was the main cause of this incident.

The Central Environmental Inspection System was established in 2015, with the first round ending in 2018, followed by the second round from 2019 to 2022, and now entering the third round. Each inspection round, as per an article in the Hong Kong Economic Journal, has been accompanied by local government’s “rectification storms,” yet many regions still opt for short-term fixes, even returning to polluting activities after the inspections conclude.

Commentator Li Yan once expressed that behind the CPC’s notion of “development,” many invaluable cultural and geographic sites are being destroyed, irreversible resources are being depleted, and lives are being jeopardized.

Chinese issues specialist and political commentator Henghe remarked, “China’s environmental pollution is policy-driven.” Henghe mentioned that due to strict regulations on polluting companies and high governance costs, profit margins have reduced, leading capital to naturally shift to areas with lax environmental governance. Places lacking strict management and where pollution victims lack the power to protest become ideal locations for high-polluting enterprises to relocate.

Henghe further stated, “Environmental pollution is not just a result of weak governance but a deliberately crafted outcome. Polluting enterprises are welcomed in China to suppress any anti-pollution activities, turning China into a shelter for global polluting companies. By attracting low-end polluting enterprises with low costs (avoiding pollution control) and low wages, the value created for 20 years has maintained a double-digit GDP growth, ensuring the stability of the ruling party.”

In light of the sudden move by the CPC to monitor pollution, Li Lin believes, “These measures appear more like the CPC’s stability maintenance efforts. However, such stability measures, reliant on consuming CPC resources, may not be sustainable in the current situation.”