Policy Review and Outlook on China's Sustainable Development since 1992

The Road to Rio+20 is the journey of countries in the world pursuing the sustainable development. As the first country to release the national Agenda 21, China's experience and lessons are of great significance for both China itself and other countries. The paper reviews the progress made and problems remained in pursuing the sustainable development in China with regard to policy formulation, institutional arrangements, planning and management. In the past five years, the mandatory targets-driven approach, which focused on energy efficiency and key pollutants reduction, played a very important role and made China comprehensive outcomes for sustainability. In order to achieve the targets, China adopted an integrated policy package including legal, administrative, economic and technology instruments. During the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), China will continue and strengthen the approach above and mainstream the transformation of economic development pattern through realizing the idea of green and low-carbon development. By summarizing policy trends in the world, the paper points out two directions, i.e., integration approach and taking prioritized and concrete actions for a sustainable future beyond 2012. The paper also presents policy approaches and recommendations for sustainable development in the next 10 years in China.