China

China has very serious water problems despite substantial economic development achievements, strong technical expertise, and political stability. But in terms of its... Show More + potential and the critical pressing needs for water resources management, China could do much better in managing its water resources. The World Bank's assistance to China in water resources development and management in the past has tended to be reactive and downstream in the project cycle. However, this approach has significantly limited the potential benefits of Bank assistance to China which a more upstream approach, based on a strategic partnership, could provide. The overall strategic objective is to improve water resources management. This strategy paper identifies China's principal water resource challenges, what China is already doing, and how the Bank can assist in the future. The large size of the Bank's water portfolio and the urgency of the problems, demand a strategic framework for the Bank's support to China. In 2002, the Bank and the Chinese Government are cooperating on the evaluation of the last, and preparation of the new, country assistance strategy. In October 2002, China promulgated a new water law, has recently prepared a new five-year plan, and is updating the master plans for the major river basins. The Bank hopes it can assist China in improving its water resources management, and accelerate implementation of reforms through a shared Country Water Resources Assistance Strategy (CWRAS). Show Less -

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate substantially exceeded China's population growth, which averaged 1.4 percent annually between 1978 and 2009, and real GDP per... Show More + capita accordingly grew at 8.6 percent annually during this period. China's urban population resides primarily in city districts (shiqu) and town districts (zhenqu), which constitute the urban core of larger administrative units called cities (shi) and respectively towns (zhen). Cities and towns in China are expansive regions, with administrative territories much larger than in the rest of the world (Chan 2007). Cities are conceptually equivalent to counties in the U.S. and thus the whole of China's territory is basically covered by 287 prefecture and provincial level municipalities, which within their area include 654 city districts - the cities proper in the conventional sense of this word - and 19,322 towns. Each town in turn includes a town district - an urban core that occupies a fraction of the town's area but accounts for most of the town's urban population. While cities and towns as a whole overlap in their administrative boundaries, with multiple towns nested within each city, city districts and town districts are disjoint structures, being urban embryos within the administrative boundaries of territorially larger cities and towns. The main purpose of this study is to examine the development and features of town districts (zhenqu) - the urbanized core of China's towns. Show Less -

The proposed Jiangxi Wuxikou Integrated Flood Management Project (JWIFMP) in China will be built in the middle reach of the Changjiang River, about 40km upstream of... Show More + Jingdezhen Municipality in Jiangxi Province. In the proposed project components, major environmental and social impacts will be expected from the construction and operation of dam and reservoir, as presented below. Wuxikou reservoir will play a key role in the changes of hydraulic regime for Changjiang River. With the existing cascade development on the river, the impacts on hydraulic regime are only considered significant within the dam and reservoir area, but not for the other downstream sections. The impact of project construction on terrestrial wildlife will be limited to around the dam site. The animals affected are common species in the region, and the impacts are temporary which will disappear with construction completion. The protection of physical cultural resources is another concern during project implementation. The project will flood one county-level cultural relic site (Site of Workers, Peasants and Soldiers’ Congress for Eight Counties in Anhui and Jiangxi province), three ancient ancestral temples of the Ming/Qing Dynasty, one small Christian church, six ancient trees and 4623 villagers’ graves, but none of them is identified as having high cultural heritage values. The expected impacts are considered insignificant with the implementation of pre-defined PCR management plan. To address the above proposed project impacts, the Environmental & Social Management Plan (ESMP) and the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) have identified the appropriate and detailed mitigation measures. Show Less -

The acute water shortage, and pollution problems in North China have been exacerbated by the continued population growth, and the accelerated industrial expansion over... Show More + the past half-century, conducive to increasingly severe freshwater shortages, and catastrophic consequences for the future. Significant commitments need to be made to rapidly implement strategies to bring water resource utilization back into a sustainable balance. The report reviews past and present situations, focusing on the future impacts of various social, and economic growth scenarios within the context of water management, where preconditions for its success are the combined requirements of complementary pricing, management, and regulatory reforms in water resources (including groundwater, water pollution, and wastewater reuse). Findings suggest a water demand management as proposed in the action plan - with further water price increases, and improving irrigation efficiency. Agricultural productivity depends on irrigation efficiency, thus water management calls for water-savings measures, low-yield land improvement, and, large-scale systems rehabilitation. Structural water pollution remedy measures, should focus on industrial wastewater pretreatment, and internal reuse of processed water, pollution prevention programs, and combined industrial, and municipal treatment plants, to include as well artificial groundwater recharge (wastewaters and floodwaters). Institutional aspects will require further strengthening, regarding water resource allocation, protection, and financing. Show Less -

The acute water shortage, and pollution problems in North China have been exacerbated by the continued population growth, and the accelerated industrial expansion over... Show More + the past half-century, conducive to increasingly severe freshwater shortages, and catastrophic consequences for the future. Significant commitments need to be made to rapidly implement strategies to bring water resource utilization back into a sustainable balance. The report reviews past and present situations, focusing on the future impacts of various social, and economic growth scenarios within the context of water management, where preconditions for its success are the combined requirements of complementary pricing, management, and regulatory reforms in water resources (including groundwater, water pollution, and wastewater reuse). Findings suggest a water demand management as proposed in the action plan - with further water price increases, and improving irrigation efficiency. Agricultural productivity depends on irrigation efficiency, thus water management calls for water-savings measures, low-yield land improvement, and, large-scale systems rehabilitation. Structural water pollution remedy measures, should focus on industrial wastewater pretreatment, and internal reuse of processed water, pollution prevention programs, and combined industrial, and municipal treatment plants, to include as well artificial groundwater recharge (wastewaters and floodwaters). Institutional aspects will require further strengthening, regarding water resource allocation, protection, and financing. Show Less -

Cities contribute an estimated 70 percent of the world's energy-related greenhouse gases (GHG). Their locations, often in low-elevation coastal zones, and large populations... Show More + make them particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. But cities often take steps, even ahead of national governments, to reduce GHG emissions. So it is with China's cities, which are well placed to chart a low-carbon growth path to help reach China's national targets for reducing the energy and carbon intensity of its economy. China's cities will need to act on multiple fronts, in some cases scaling up elements of existing good practice, in others changing established ways of doing business. Actions affecting land-use and spatial development are among the most critical to achieving low-carbon growth as carbon emissions are closely connected to urban form. Spatial development also has very strong 'lock-in' effects: once cities grow and define their urban form, it is almost impossible to retrofit them because the built environment is largely irreversible and very costly to modify. Furthermore, cities need energy-efficient buildings and industries. They need a transport system that offers alternatives to automobiles. They need to shift to efficient management of water, wastewater, and solid waste. And they need to incorporate responses to climate change in their planning, investment decisions, and emergency-preparedness plans. Show Less -

The Institute of Comprehensive Transport (NDRC) and the World Bank jointly carried out a study of urban rail development in China. The joint study team visited several... Show More + selected cities that have developed or are developing urban rail systems, including Beijing, Chongqing, Wuhan, Changsha, Hangzhou, and Zhengzhou, and held discussions with relevant agencies at the central and local levels. This paper summarizes the key findings. It highlights the positive outlook for urban rail development in China and the strengths of China's circumstances and institutions in responding to that outlook. It also identifies the key areas where strengthening of institutions and processes of urban rail planning would enhance the contribution of urban railways to sustainable urban development and improve value for money from specific urban rail investments. It makes seven recommendations aimed at such strengthening. The study is intended to contribute both to urban rail policy and planning in China's cities and also to help the World Bank target its institutional support in this important sub-sector of China's transport system. Show Less -

Based on a number of background studies on the urban transport problems facing China's large cities, this report summarizes the diagnostic analyses of these problems... Show More + with a focus on the associated institutional issues, and recommends policy directions and short- to medium-term institutional development actions for sustainable urban transport. In particular, it examines the changing nature of urban transport problems in a broad context of urbanization and fiscal decentralization, and calls for the national government to re-define and strengthen its role in dealing with the spillover effects of urban transport problems. The report is intended to contribute to the current debate on urban transport issues and to serve as a technical input to the government policy making process, especially at the national level. Show Less -

Clean, safe energy for rural areas is an important component of green growth and sustainable development. Biogas could be an important contributor, if its record in... Show More + reality lives up to its expected potential. This paper provides a preliminary assessment of biogas use by smallholder farmers in rural China, using data collected from 2,700 households in five provinces. The authors find that user satisfaction is high, and environmental and economic benefits appear tangible. There are strong indications of reduced use of wood and crop residues for fuel. Less time is spent on collecting fuel wood and cooking, which is especially beneficial to women. Adopters also save on fertilizers, because of the use of biogas residues. Moreover, problems with suspension of biogas use, whether due to technical or human factors, remained limited. However, few tangible benefits to respiratory health were detected. Overall, these findings are grounds for optimism about the potential for of smallholder biogas to contribute to more sustainable development, in China and beyond. Show Less -

A significant objective for the government of China is to share with other countries, particularly those in the initial stages of developing carbon finance portfolios,... Show More + its experiences and achievements in developing its own Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) program. This report examines these experiences from the institutional, political, economic, and technical point of view. This report also identifies the challenges and opportunities for the CDM market in China. The report is structured into five main chapters. Chapter one provides CDM related background information, an overview of the global carbon market and of the CDM project pipeline development. Chapter two outlines Chinese CDM related national circumstances, such as climate change related measures and indicators, as well as the regulatory environment of CDM implementation in China. Chapter three provides in-depth analysis of the performance of implemented CDM projects in selected provinces and in specific sectors addressing different trends. It also highlights achievements and barriers as well as investigates CDM market actor patterns in China. Chapter four outlines the impacts of the CDM implementation with regard to its national development targets through the 11th Five-Year Plan period, and its contributions to national sustainable development. Chapter five provides concluding remarks, noting China's achievements, and enumerating the challenges ahead. Show Less -