Air Quality Governance in China

Abstract

China, as the biggest developing country, has been experiencing rapid industrialization and drastic urbanization, since the Reform and Opening-Up initiated in the late 1970s, gradually resulting in air pollution nationwide, just like all other developed countries. Along with huge economic growth, speedy urban expansion and modernization, and greatly improved living conditions, the needs for widespread infrastructure construction of transportation networks have sharply increased, resulting not only in the utilization of various kinds of vehicles, both in the private and public sectors, but also in the worsening of the problem of air pollution. In addition, the utilization of fossil fuels, especially coal as the major energy source, has exacerbated the issue of air pollution, aside from industrial emissions. However, due to huge differences in geographical locations, natural conditions, economic structure and developing modes between various regions, the type, extent, and the level of air pollution are quite diverse and can be characterized as regionalized, mingled, and complicated (Li, 2014; Du, Yao, Li, & Lan, 2015).