Ministry of Ecology and Environment

Ministry of Ecology and Environment the People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国生态环境部; Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Shengtai-Huánjìng Bù
	Emblem of the People's Republic of China
Agency overview
Formed	March, 2008
Preceding agency	State Environmental Protection Administration;
Jurisdiction	People's Republic of China
Headquarters	Beijing
Minister responsible	Huang Runqiu;
Parent agency	State Council
Website	english.mee.gov.cn///

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, formerly the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China (MEP), and prior to 2008 known as the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), is a department of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It superseded the MEP in 2018.^[1]

The Ministry is the nation's environmental protection department charged with the task of protecting China's air, water, and land from pollution and contamination. Directly under the State Council, it is empowered and required by law to implement environmental policies and enforce environmental laws and regulations. Complementing its regulatory role, it funds and organizes research and development. It also has jurisdiction over China's nuclear safety agency.^[2]

History[]

In 1972, Chinese representatives attended the First United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Sweden. The next year, 1973, saw the establishment of the Environmental Protection Leadership Group. In 1983, the Chinese government announced that environmental protection would become a state policy. In 1998, China went through a disastrous year of serious flooding, and the Chinese government upgraded the Leading Group to a ministry-level agency, which then became the State Environmental Protection Administration.

Organization[]

There are 12 offices and departments under MEP, all at the si (司) level in the government ranking system. They carry out regulatory tasks in different areas and make sure that the agency is functioning accordingly:

Department structure[]

Department	Chinese Name
General Administrative Office	(办公��)
Department of Human Resources & Institutional Affairs	(行政体制与人事司)
Department of Planning and Finance	(规划与财务司)
Department of Policies, Laws and Regulations	(政策法规司)
Department of Science & Technology and Standards	(科技标准司)
Pollution Control Office	(污染控制司)
Natural Ecosystem Protection Office	(自然生态保护司)
Department of Environmental Impact Assessment	(环境影响评价管理司)
International Cooperation Office	(国际合作司)
Department of Nuclear Safety	(核安全管理司)
Environmental Inspection Office	(环境监察局)
Office of Agency & Party Affairs	(机关党委)

Leadership[]

Position	Person Name
Minister of Ecology and Environment	Huang Runqiu
Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment	Sun Jinlong, , ,
Head of the Discipline Inspection & Supervision Group Dispatched From the CCDI & the NSC

Regional centers[]

In 2006, SEPA opened five regional centers to help with local inspections and enforcement. Today, the five centers are direct affiliates of MEE:

Region	Head Office	Enforcement Area
Eastern Center	Nanjing	Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Shandong.
Southern Center	Guangzhou	Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan.
Northwestern Center	Xi'an	Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Ningxia.
Southwestern Center	Chengdu	Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Tibet.
Northeastern Center	Shenyang	Liaoning, Jining, and Heilongjiang.
MEE headquarters	Beijing	Beijing, Tianjing, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia.

Areas of activities[]

MEP regulates water quality, ambient air quality, solid waste, soil, noise, radioactivity. In the area of R&D activities, MEP has funded a series of "Key Laboratories" in different parts of the country, including: Laboratory for Urban Air Particles Pollution Prevention and Control for Environmental Protection, Laboratory on Environment and Health, Laboratory on Industrial Ecology, Laboratory on Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Recovery, and Laboratory on Biosafety.^[3]

In addition, MEP also administers engineering and technical research centers related to environmental protection, including: Center for Non-ferrous Metal Industrial Pollution Control, Center for Clean Coal and Ecological Recovery of Mines, Center for Industrial Waste Water Pollution Control, Center for Industrial Flue Gas Control, Center for Hazardous Waste Treatment, and Center for Solid Waste Treatment and Disposal of Mines.^[3]

China is experiencing an increase in environmental complaints: In 2005, there were 51,000 disputes over environmental pollution, according to SEPA minister Zhou Shengxian. From 2001 to 2005, Chinese environmental authorities received more than 2.53 million letters and 430,000 visits by 597,000 petitioners seeking environmental redress.^[4]

List of Ministers[]

№	Name	Took office	Left office
Director of State Environmental Protection Agency
1	Qu Geping	1987	June 1993
2	Xie Zhenhua	June 1993	March 1998
Director of State Environmental Protection Administration
(2)	Xie Zhenhua	March 1998	December 2005
3	Zhou Shengxian	December 2005	March 2008
Minister of Environmental Protection
(3)	Zhou Shengxian	March 2008	February 2015
4	Chen Jining	February 2015	June 2017
5	Li Ganjie	June 2017	March 2018
Minister of Ecology and Environment
(5)	Li Ganjie	March 2018	April 2020
(6)	Huang Runqiu	April 2020	-

References[]

^ "华建敏：组建环境保护部加大环境保护力度_新闻中心_新浪网". Sina Corp. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
^ [1] Archived 2007-05-03 at the Wayback Machine
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b [2] Archived October 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Environmental protection in China: the role of law | Alex Wang". China Dialogue. Retrieved 2013-02-12.

External links[]

[1] "华建敏：组建环境保护部加大环境保护力度_新闻中心_新浪网". Sina Corp. Retrieved 2013-02-12.

[2] [1] Archived 2007-05-03 at the Wayback Machine

[english.sepa.gov.cn-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b [2] Archived October 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

[4] "Environmental protection in China: the role of law | Alex Wang". China Dialogue. Retrieved 2013-02-12.

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