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In recent decades, China has been facing serious water pollution crises. To address this problem, discharge standards for wastewater treatment plants in China are becoming more and more stringent. Also, the sewage charge for compliant emissions and the penalty rate for non–compliant emissions have increased significantly. This paper comprehensively investigates the economic and environmental implications of such wastewater management policy in China. In this paper, a general framework for the analysis of WWTPs’ behavior and the resulted economic and environmental consequences is presented, and the impacts of discharge standard, charge rate, and penalty rate are analyzed. The trade–offs between the operational cost, environmental impact, and pollutant emissions are identified. This study also provides some insightful management implications for concerned policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emissions from and potential environmental effects of open field burning of corn straw in China in 2011 were investigated to provide policymakers with the information needed in preventing and minimizing the environmental burden resulting from open field burning. Results show that direct CO 2 , NO x , SO 2 , and PM emitted from corn straw open burning accounts for 0.12%, 0.73%, 7.15 × 10 −3 %, and 2.16% of national CO 2 , NO x , SO 2 , and dust emissions in 2011, respectively. Air pollutants and their potential environmental burden were mainly generated from eastern China, which has relatively high income and rural population densities. From an environmental perspective, composting technology, as opposed to technologies of returning to field, feed, biogas, and electricity generation, is the most efficient use of straw as resources because of its ability to substitute artificially synthesized fertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the Chinese, man is an integral part of the cosmos and for this reason it is very important to emphasise the harmony which must exist between human beings and nature. However, in order to survive, the Chinese have altered the environment, putting enormous pressure on natural resources. To see the extraordinary results of economic growth in the last few years is to see the effects it has had on the environment. It also raises questions about the government's capacity and willingness to take effective action to slow down the impacts which this development has had on nature [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]