6. Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP)
| Minister: | Zhou Shengxian |
| Vice Ministers: | 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 |
| Website: | |
| www.mep.gov.cn | |
| Departments and Directors: | 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 |
MEP is responsible for the formulation and enforcement of national policy as well as the coordination and supervision of major environmental projects. It was upgraded to a full ministry in March 2008 from the ministry-level State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), which itself was upgraded in 1998 from the vice-ministry-level National Environmental Protection Administration. MEP has the same status as other ministerial organizations whose portfolios include or affect the environment--such as the Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction--and negotiates with them as an equal. Because of China's mounting environmental problems and of MEP's limited budget, the ministry has been forced to seek funding from nongovernmental and overseas sources, through vehicles such as the MEP-affiliated China Foundation for Environmental Protection.
Since 1998, SEPA/MEP's role has widened from pollution control to broader ecological issues such as desertification, biodiversity, 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, SEPA's tactics have 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 V: State Council 27 Ministries and Commissions