State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA)
| Director: | Zhou Shengxian |
| Vice Directors: | Pan Yue Zhang Lijun Wu Xiaoqing Zhou Jian Li Ganjie |
| Address: | 115 Nanxiaojie, Xizhimen, Xicheng District, Beijing 100035 |
| Telephone: | 86-10-6655-6006 |
| Facsimile: | 86-10-6655-6010 |
| E-mail: | mailbox@sepa.gov.cn |
| Website: | www.sepa.gov.cn or www.zhb.gov.cn |
| Departments: | Administrative Office; Planning and Finance; Policies, Law, and Regulations; Human Resources and Institutional Affairs; Science, Technology, and Standards; Pollution Control; Nature Environmental Conservation; Nuclear Safety and Radioactive Management; International Cooperation; Evaluation and Management of Environmental Impact; Bureau of Environmental Protection Supervision; CCP Committee |
SEPA is a ministerial-level department established in 1998 when the government restructuring upgraded the vice-ministerial-level National Environmental Protection Administration. SEPA answers directly to the State Council and is responsible for the formulation and enforcement of national policy as well as the coordination and supervision of major environmental projects. SEPA has the same status as other ministerial organizations whose portfolios include or affect the environment--such as the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Construction--and negotiates with them as an equal. Because SEPA receives less money from state coffers than it did before the restructuring, and because of China's mounting environmental problems, SEPA has been forced to seek funding from nongovernmental and overseas sources, through vehicles such as the SEPA-affiliated China Foundation for Environmental Protection.
Since 1998, SEPA's role has widened from pollution control to broader ecological issues such as desertification, bio-diversity, wetlands preservation, the exploitation of natural resources and nature reserves, protection of the ozone layer, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. As China has moved toward a market economy, so too have SEPA's tactics changed to more pre-emptive, economic incentives. Some recent proposals include pricing resources to reflect their true value, levying an environmental tax, securing greater access to foreign technology, and raising the central government's contribution toward environmental management.
Return to PART VI: State Council Directly Administered Offices