China Policy Journal Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2018 | Page 18

Water-Pollutant Discharge-Fee System in China
Figure 2. Water-pollutant discharge-fee collection in China
(Source: China Statistical Year Book)
increasing from 1988 to 1994. The pollution
amount was jumped from 1995
to 2001. Apparently, the approval of the
2003 regulation retarded the increasing
rate of pollution, after which the total
amount of water pollutant continued
to grow, but comparatively more gently
from 2006 to 2013, when the rate
dropped from 8.7% to 2.3%. During
the 10 years of rapid industrial development,
the total wastewater discharge
was not doubled but did maintain an
increasing rate (Figure 3).
Pollutants such as COD and
ammoniacal nitrogen within wastewater
can explain water quality in detail
(Figure 4). The fee system operated effectively
since its reform. With slight
fluctuations, the amount of COD was
stable in 2008, at 13.2 million tons, after
which it increased sharply from 2011
to 2014 to almost double than ever before.
While the amounts of ammonium
and nitrogen appeared quite stable until
2010, they doubled in 2011 at 2.604
million tons and then decreased in the
following three years to 2.385 million
tons. The concentrations of ammonium
and nitrogen were more clearly controlled
than the COD concentration
during the period of rapid economic
growth. Though the water quality cannot
be fully determined by the levels of
COD, ammonium, and nitrogen, the
fee system’s stimulation of pollutant reduction
still contributes to the gradual
improvement of water quality, though
not as obviously as expected.
Water quality is also assessed
from a macro perspective in seven major
river basins nationwide (Figure 5).
The percentage of surface water with
good quality and less contamination
(levels I–III) sharply declined in 2001.
The amount of healthy river bodies almost
equals that of contaminated rivers.
The fact that the amount of healthy and
unhealthy rivers increased at the same
speed illustrates that the effect of the fee
program was insufficiently effective in
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