The Emergence and Evolution of Ecological Economics

In China over the Past Two Decades

WANG SONGPEI (CSEE CHINA) LI MAOXU (CSEE CHINA) WANG DAI (CSEE CHINA)

Introduction
Chinas ecological economics was first brought into existence in 1980 by Professor Xu Dixin, a famous
Chinese late economist, and up to the present it has experienced a development of over twenty years. In
this period, Chinas ecological economics, as a newly rising interdisciplinary science, made clear its
research objective, and established its own disciplinary theoretic system, while being widely applied to
guide national economic development activities, and exerting a strong promotion upon Chinas
economic reform and modernization. Nowadays, human social and economic development, viewed
from the relationship between human beings and the nature, has moved into a new era --- Ecological
Era, in which sustainable development has become the common goal of all nations in developing their
societies and economies. In this new era, more advantageous conditions are provided in favor of the
further development and practical application of Chinas ecological economics. Meanwhile, higher
requirements are also set forward. The emergence and evolution of Chinas ecological economics in the
past two decades was a result of the cooperation of many Chinese experts organized and directed by the
Chinese Society for Ecological Economics (CSEE). As the active participants in the theoretical
research of ecological economics from its very beginning and Wang Songpei as the vice-chairman and
secretary general of the CSEE for a long period, responsible for its organization and promotion, We
would like to give a retrospective review of the emergence and evolution of Chinas ecological
economics in the past 20 years, and put forward some ideas about its future development, particularly
about its joining the world, in the hope of promoting the exchange of international ecological economic
research and its further development.

Abstract: Chinas ecological economics started to establish from 1980. It emerged at the claim of the
Ecological Era, and its goal was to realize the harmonious development of economy and ecology as
well as the sustainable development of social economy. In the past half-century, the population and
economy of China increased rapidly. But owing to lack of the concept of harmonious development
between economy and ecology, the natural ecological balances were seriously destroyed and the
sustainable social economic development was made impossible. This promoted the emergence of
Chinas ecological economics. In China, theories of ecological economics were established by the joint
efforts of nation wide experts organized by the Chinese Society for Ecological Economics. The
establishment of its preliminary theoretic system, that cost about seven years, provided the theoretic
base for the sustainable economic development in China. The aim of establishing Chinas ecological
economics is to guide the economic practice. In the past 20 years, Chinese ecological economists, in
cooperation with relevant government departments, researched on various practical eco-economic
problems, and organized various ecological economic training courses to raise the eco-economic
awareness of the leaders at different levels and the masses. All these contributed much to the
sustainable development of Chinas economy. Henceforth, Chinas ecological economics should join
the world, change the current isolated state of research, and get further development in cooperation and
exchange with experts all over the world.

The Emergence of Chinas Ecological Economics

The establishment of ecological economics in China in the early 80s of the 20th century was in no way
an accident. Its establishment reflected the current demand for the realization of harmonious
development between ecology and economy and the sustainable development of society and economy.
It is a fruit grown from the development of production force to a certain degree, reflecting the
increasingly sharp contradiction between ecology and economy both in China and abroad.
Human society develops along with the development of social production force. The early
development of social production force promoted the agricultural revolution, which enabled people to
more fully utilize natural resources and had people greatly benefited. The agricultural society was
based on this development, and the agricultural civilization of a long period was created, including the
agricultural civilization in China in the past several thousand years. It was a tremendous progress in the

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development of human society. Later the industrial revolution was promoted by the even faster
development of social production force. On the basis of the fast development of science and
technology, natural resources could be exploited and utilized in a wider and deeper scope to meet the
demands of people. On this basis the industrial society was created, and the unprecedented highly
industrialized civilization came into being. It was another tremendous progress in the development of
human society. In this new era, owing to the sharp increase of social production force and the
application of advanced technology to production on a large scale, the world economy had an
unprecedented rapid development. However, because of lacking the guidance of the theory of
harmonious relationship between ecology and economy, the fast economic development brought
serious destruction to the eco-environment, and various problems emerged from the disorder of ecology
and economy. After entering the 20th century, such phenomena became even more serious. The whole
world has been shocked by the events such as the Dark storm in the 30s in the U.S.A. and the Eight
pollution nuisances in the 50-60s in the countries having advanced industries and economy. By the
end of the 60s, people were confronted with the five major eco-economic problems of population, food,
resources, energy and environment, and were seriously disturbed.
Compared with the advanced countries in the world, China is still at a low level of economic
development. But owing to lack of guidance of the theory of harmonious development between
economy and ecology, many eco-economic problems emerged together with the sharp increase of
population and economy. For instance, the per capita land area in China is only 1/3 of the world
average, but land was often unreasonably used. The various unreasonable occupation and use of land
have shrunk the total area of arable land at an alarming rate. The overuse of chemical fertilizer instead
of the traditional organic fertilizer and negligence of land recovery have greatly reduced the fertility of
land. Over-cutting and deforestation, which always gathers more wood than growth, has caused
shocking forest deficit. Reclamation of grassland for farming and overgrazing of grassland have also
given rise to large-scale degradation, desertification and alkalinization. Over-harvesting in fishery in
the coastal areas by increasing the number of fishing boats and nets has caused sharp decline of fishery
resources. Three wastes, namely, waste liquid, gas and solids, discharged from industrial processes
without proper treatment, have caused serious environmental pollution. At the same time, township
industries have been widely developed in China, many of which are harmful to environment and help
the wide spread of pollution in the rural areas. All these have contributed to the seriousness of the eco-
economic problems in China.
Science results from practice. Like any other discipline, the emergence of eco-economics is a response
to the demand of solving practical problems. Negligence of the destruction of ecology resulting from
the disordered development both in China and around the world has caused more and more serious eco-
economic consequences. A new discipline that can guide the coordinated development of economy and
ecology is now badly needed. Eco-economics, a new interdisciplinary discipline formed by the
combination of ecology and economics, has come into being in China.
The emergence of eco-economics is a response to the demand of solving the contradictions between
economy and ecology in the modern Ecological Time. Eco-economics in China is a part of that in the
world. The emergence of eco-economics in China reflected the three things taking place simultaneously
with the global tendency of harmonious development between ecology and economy.

1. Simultaneous with the Movement of Environment and Development in the world in recent three
decades

In the 60s of the 20th century, five major eco-economic problems related to population, food, resources,
energy and environment took place. People began to seek solutions to these problems. This triggered
the discussion of two major views, the pessimistic view represented by the Roma Club and the
optimistic view represented by some famous Americans such as Helman Kaen and Julian Simon.
These views discussed the future of human society, and paved the way of establishing new ideas and
public opinions for the emergence of the World Movement of Environment and Development. On this
basis, in 1972 the United Nations held Human Environment Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden. The
meeting put the awareness of environmental protection into practice to protect the ecological
environment. 20 years later, the United Nations held another meeting, Environment and Development
Meeting, in Rio, Brazil, 1992. The meeting explicitly put forward the concept of integration of
environment and development, and the thought of sustainable development as the guide line of the
world. From then on, the world economy has been led to the way of harmonious development of
economy and ecology. The practical process of the World Movement of Environment and development
in the recent 30 years was also the process of forming the theory of harmonious development between

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ecology and economy. Eco-economics in China also emerged simultaneously with the practical process
of this Movement...

2. Simultaneous with the process of forming the world eco-economics

Eco-economics is a science of the whole world. Its generation is a response to the demand of solving
the world contradiction between economy and ecology. However, at the same time, eco-economics in
different countries have their own characteristics and theories by taking their countries situation into
account. In the 60s of the 20th Century in the U.S.A., economist Kenneth Boulding first used the
concept of Eco-economics, which was applicable to the increasingly evident contradiction between
economy and ecology. Eco-economics first emerged in China in 1980, about more than 10 years later
than in the U.S.A. On the one hand, it was because of the lower level of economic development in
China than in the U.S.A.; and on the other hand, it was also due to the serious disturbance of Chinas
Great Cultural Revolution. However, viewed from the overall situation of the era, all the theories of
eco-economics in various countries were derived from the same world, from the contradictions of the
same nature in the same economic development process. So it can be clearly seen that the emergence of
eco-economics in China was also simultaneous with the world eco-economics.

3. Simultaneous with the tendency of the ecologization of world economy

The formation of the eco-economic theory reflects the demand of harmonious development between
economy and ecology. With the sharp increase of the contradictions between ecology and economy, a
worldwide tendency, ecologization of economy, is coming into being. It reflects that the world
economy must transform from disordered to ordered development between economy and ecology. It
has penetrated into all the aspects of economic development and human life. For instance, respect to the
nature and harmonize with the nature are more and more stressed in urban construction; green
industry and green product are increasingly emphasized in the development of industries and
products. In automobile industry green car has been developed to control fume pollution and make
resources recyclable. Ecological construction and construction of no public nuisance have been
encouraged in architecture, green construction materials are being developed in the construction
material industry. Some other new concepts and products have also been raised, such as ecological
agriculture, green market, green packaging, green publishing system in respective industries,
etc. In peoples daily life, including eating, wearing, housing and traveling, it has gradually become a
fashion for people to pursue green food, ecological suits, ecological housing, and using bicycle
instead of car. Green indoor decoration, heating, illumination, electronic apparatus, office, ball pen,
and tree-planting for baby birth, and casting cremated bone ashes into sea, even green university,
football, Olympic, police, army, etc. all come into the fashion of peoples economic and social life. All
these have taken place in the transition period of the ecological and economic development from
disorder to order. The generation of eco-economics in China is certainly simultaneous with this
tendency.

The Construction of Theory of Chinas Ecological Economics

The idea of establishing Chinese ecological economics was first put forward in 1980. By the organizing
and promoting works done by the Chinese Society for Ecological Economics and by the joint effort of
many researchers and practical workers, its basic theoretic system was established in about seven years.
The publication of the book Ecological Economics edited by Professor Xu Dixin was the result. The
main developing stages of Chinese ecological economics are as follows:

At the Second Conference of Economic Theory of Chinese Animal Husbandry, held in Xining City,
Qinghai Province, China, in August 1980, Professor Xu Dixin, Chinese famous late economist,
suggested: to research on the ecological economic problems in China and gradually establish Chinese
ecological economics. This marked the beginning of Chinese ecological economics.

Organized by the Institute of Economics of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the
editorial board of the Economic Research Journal, and presided by Professor Xu Dixin, the First
Symposium on the Problems of Chinese Ecological Economy was held in Beijing from September 27
to October 4, 1980. In this meeting, economists (represented by Professor Xu Dixin) and ecologists
(represented by professor Ma Shijun) for the first time discussed together the issues of Chinese

3
Ecological Economics. It marked the beginning of establishing Chinese ecological economics through
the integration of social science and natural science. After this meeting, the contents of discussion and
the abstracts of the lectures in this meeting were reported by the journal Economic Research; a book
On the Ecological Balance, the first collection of works on ecological economic research in China,
was published; and a series of papers on ecological economic research was published in the journal
Economic Research in 1981(one paper in one issue). It was the beginning period of Chinese
ecological economic research.

After the First Symposium on the Problems of Chinese Ecological Economy, the enthusiasm for
studying ecological economics was high throughout China. Having been prepared for two years, the
First Forum of Chinese Ecological Economics (nation wide) was held from November 8 to 13, 1982, in
Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, co-sponsored by The Institute of Economics, CASS; Institute of
Rural Development, CASS; Bureau of Environmental Protection of Ministry of Urban and Rural
Construction; Chinese Society of Ecology and China National Committee on Man and Biosphere.
The main achievement of this meeting was that the ecological economic system was established as
the research object of ecological economics. The confirmation of the research object marked the
establishment of Chinese Ecological Economics as an independent science. This was the sign of
beginning to establish Chinese Ecological Economics.

After the First Forum of Chinese Ecological Economics (nation wide) and further preparation for two
years, the nation wide Conference of Chinese Ecological Economy and the Founding of the Chinese
Society for Ecological Economics (CSEE) was held from February 14 to 21, 1984, in Beijing, It was
also co-sponsored by the same five institutions as the First Forum of Chinese Ecological Economics
held in November 1982. In this meeting, the main leaders came from Chinese National Planning
Commission, Ministry of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Urban and Rural Construction
and Environmental Protection; and some Chinese famous natural scientists and economists, such as
Qian Xuesen, Chen Daisun, Yu Guangyuan, Liu Guoguang and Sun Shangqing, attended. This meeting
greatly promoted the research of Chinese ecological economics and the establishment of the new
discipline, ecological economics. Its important role was manifested in the following three aspects:

1. Wan Li, Vice-Premier of Chinese State Council, delivered a speech on the conference. He, on behalf
of the Chinese Central Government, warmly congratulated to the founding of the Chinese Society for
Ecological Economics. He emphasized that the ecological economic problems were strategic problems
in the course of Chinese socialistic construction, and were closely associated with the construction of
Chinese socialistic modernization. In recent years, the Ministry of Urban and Rural Construction and
Environmental Protection and the Society of Ecology were founded one after another in China; and
later the Chinese Society for Ecological Economics was also founded. To strengthen the leadership of
the research work from two sides, the administrative organization and academic groups, indicated the
awakening of our government in recognizing the very importance of ecological economic problems.
The development of Chinese economy needed two balances, one was the comprehensive economic
balance, and the other was the ecological balance. Chinese government attached importance to the
founding of the CSEE and the development of Chinese ecological economics.

2. The Chinese Society for Ecological Economics was founded. And on this basis, the local Societies
for Ecological Economics at other levels, including more than 10 at provincial level and some at city
and county level, were also founded gradually in China. The organization of research groups of
ecological economics in the whole country accelerated the development of research on Chinese
ecological economics.

3. After this conference, a paper entitled Current Main Academic Viewpoints on Chinese Ecological
Economics (about 28, 000 words) was put forward, summarizing the practical ecological economic
problems and the viewpoints of ecological economics that existed for a period and in the conference. It
summarized from the following two aspects:
1) The theoretic categories of Chinese ecological economics, which consist of ten parts: the objective
necessity of the emergence of ecological economics, the significance of studying ecological economics,
the research object of ecological economics, the purpose, task and method of studying ecological
economics, the theoretic basis of ecological economics, the nature of ecological economics, the
characteristics of ecological economics, the relationship between ecological economics and economic
ecology, the relationship between ecological economics and other disciplines, and the establishment of
ecological economics with Chinese characteristics.

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2) The basic theoretic issues of ecological economics, which consist of eight parts: combining ecology
with economy, recognizing the relationship between ecology and economy, strengthening human adjust
and control over the nature, the ecological economy and productive force, the view of ecological value,
realizing ecological economic effect in economic construction, guiding economic construction with the
view of ecological economy, re-understanding all kinds of economics with the view of ecological
balance, and so on1. This supplied a general basis and made preparation for the theoretical research and
discipline construction of Chinese ecological economics.

After the founding of the CSEE in February 1984 and the organization of expert group, the CSEE
began to organize researches on the theoretical issues of ecological economics and to gradually
establish the theoretical system of this discipline. In October 1985, a branch of the Society for
Ecological Economics, the Basic Theory Society, held a nation wide symposium of the outline of
ecological economics in Guilin City, Guangxi Autonomous Region. On the basis of eight drafts, the
first teaching and researching outline of ecological economics in China was produced, which was the
result of collective wisdom and full of Chinese characteristics.

Later, when the Spring Festival, the most important Chinese traditional festival, in 1986 had just gone,
the Symposium of the First Monograph on Ecological Economics in China was held in Zhengzhou
City, Henan Province. The participants were mainly the middle-aged and young ecological economists,
who gave up their holidays and plunged actively into the work under poor working condition. After not
a long time, in Sep. 1987, the first monograph of collective wisdom entitled Ecological Economics
(Xu Dixin as the chief editor) was published, which summarized the existing results of research in
China. This monograph represented the highest level in China at that time, and won the first class prize
in the first appraisal of excellent political and theoretical books, awarded by the publishing industry of
East China District, and was specified as the textbook in Chinese universities by the Chinese Ministry
of Education, and reprinted in 1990. The publication of Ecological Economics in 1987 symbolized
that the theoretic system of the Chinese newly rising ecological economics was basically established.
Henceforth, the Chinese ecological economics stepped into a new period of improving its theoretic
system and accepting the tests by economic practices.

As a newly rising interdisciplinary discipline, and in the course of establishing its basic theoretic
system in seven years, Chinese Ecological Economics showed evidently its characteristic of exploring
the integration of economics and ecology. This obvious feature was mainly manifested in the following
two aspects:

1. The joint research of experts from both social sciences and natural sciences to construct the theoretic
system of the discipline.
At the very beginning of exploring how to construct the theoretic system of the discipline, the First
Chinese Symposium on the Chinese Ecological Economic Problems, held on September 27, 1980,
showed the obvious characteristic of the cooperative research and common discussion between
economists and ecologists. Later, this feature still remained in the process of constructing the theoretic
system of Chinese ecological economics by the joint effort of experts from social sciences and natural
sciences. For examples, some experts pointed out: In the process of rapid development of human
society, the economic activities that were blind and without scientific foresight had seriously influenced
the natural ecological system. Therefore, the economists had to break the traditional economic concepts
and accept the ideas of ecology. At the same time, some experts said: With the progress of science
and technology, and the increase of population, the human force to intervene and re-mould the nature
was stronger and stronger. The ecologists also recognized that they could not continue to overlook the
research of human society2. These two coincidental requirements made up the driving force of
constructing the newly rising interdiscipline, Chinese ecological economics. More obviously, in this
conference, the famous economist (Xu Dixin) put forward that the economic construction must be
ecologicalized, and some famous ecologist and agrologist (Ma Shijun, Xiong Yi) put forward that the
research of ecology must be economized. And at the same time, some other famous scholars,
according to the current developing trend of the combination of economy and ecology, put forward that
improvement of knowledge must depend on communication and innovation of knowledge must depend
on integration. Therefore, we should play the role of being amphibious scientific workers to explore
1
See Wang Songpei: Current Academic Ideas of Chinese Ecological Economics, in Studies on The Issues of Chinas
Ecological Economics, Zhejian Peoples Publishing House, 1985. pp.257-298.
2 \3
See the papers and records of the Conference of Chinese Ecological Economy and the Founding of the Chinese Society
for Ecological Economics, Feb.1984

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and construct Chinese ecological economics, and so on3. All of these promoted the founding of Chinese
ecological economics, a newly rising interdisciplinary discipline in China.

2. The deep exploration of understanding the objective laws of economy and of ecology, as well as of
their integration
Chinese ecological economists generally think that the characteristic of ecological economics is the
combination of ecology and economics, and it is considered as a branch of economics. But in the past,
the law of ecological balance, which objectively existed in the nature and played its important role in
economic field, was not recognized, not paid much attention, nor studied. In recent seven years,
Chinese economists and practical economic workers have studied the ecological economic problems
and established the theoretic system of Chinese ecological economics since they began to realize and
research on the problem of ecological balance in economic development. It is also a breakthrough,
through which people can recognize and master steadily the laws of ecological economics. In China,
this process has undergone the following three gradually improving steps:

The first step is the recognition of the existence of the objective natural law of ecological balance. In
the long period of economic development, people in China did not recognize and even negate the
existence of the natural law of ecological balance. This was the source of serious ecological economic
problems appeared in economic practice. From not recognizing the existence of this objective law to
recognizing its existence and its effect to economic development, it was an important breakthrough and
progress, which made people recognize that economic development must be restricted by two objective
laws, the law of economy and the law of ecological balance. This was the starting point that Chinese
economists and practical workers began to recognize the ecological economic problems and began to
construct the theoretic system of ecological economics.

The second step is the recognition of the existence of the objective ecological economic law of
coordinating the development of economy and ecology. As a result of recognizing the existence of the
objective law of ecological balance and its influence on economy, people would certainly be impelled
to recognize the relationship between the economic law and the natural law of ecological balance. The
development of economy relies on the unified carrier of ecology and economy. The effect and impact
of economic laws and of the law of ecological balance are not isolated, but restrict each other. In fact,
there is a relationship of mutual dependence and harmonious promotion between them. They form a
unified objective law of ecological economy, which strongly reacts on guiding and normalizing the
developing direction of human social economy. The recognition of the existence of the objective law of
ecological economy is a further breakthrough to recognize the ecological economic problems and to
construct the theoretic system of ecological economics. The core theory of ecological economics----the
theory of coordinating development of economy and ecology----was thus established.

The third step is the recognition of the existence of the ecological economic law of the sustainable
development of social economy. Those having recognized the ecological economic law of coordinating
economic development with ecology would certainly recognize in practices that the harmony of
economy and ecology not only displays in static state but also in dynamic state. In developing
economy, people destroyed the ecological balances, and at the same time would certainly lead to the
static and dynamic non-balances in economic development. The latter would cause the unsustainable
development of social economy, and accordingly cause the serious unfairness between generations.
Recognizing by people the ecological economic law of sustainable development of social economy is
another great success in researching on ecological economic problems and constructing the theoretic
system of ecological economics. This further enriched and improved the theoretic system of Chinese
ecological economics, provided a more solid theoretic basis for ecological economics to guide practice,
and made the development of Chinese ecological economics step into a new period.

Chinas ecological economics evolves while guiding the practice

Ecological economics in China emerged in the economic development of China, aiming solely at
guiding the economic growth to coordinate with the ecological environment. In the past twenty years,
the ecological economics itself also made progress while closely connecting with and directing the
practice. The main relevant works done by the Chinese Society for Ecological Economics included:

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1. Organizing experts to write and publish the monograph The Ecological Economic Management
towards the 21st Century

The theoretical research of ecological economics in China, after the monograph Ecological
Economics was published and the theoretic system of the discipline was preliminarily established in
1987, began to devote major efforts to instruct the practice, and at the same time continued to improve
the theory itself. One of the major works done by the Chinese Society for Ecological Economics was to
organize the experts in this field to do continuous research and exploration, to write and publish the
monograph The Eco-Economic Management towards the 21st Century, which was directly used to
guide the practice. This work was organized in 1992 by Wang Songpei, the author of this article (on
behalf of the CSEE), connected with his research project A Study on the Issues on Eco-Economic
Management during the Modernization of China4. This monograph, published in 1997, has the
features of taking the essential theory of ecological economics as the basis, aiming at urgent eco-
economic problems in the economic development, and putting forward the concrete theories and
principles to direct the eco-economic management to coordinate the economic development with the
ecological environment. The major concrete theories and principles raised include: (a) the law that
human beings use the nature and are controlled by the nature at the same time; (b) the law that
economy is dominant and ecological environment is basic and they two control and boost each other;
(c) the law that economic validity and ecological security are compatible and coordinative; (d) the law
that economic benefit, social benefit, and ecological benefit are in consistence with each other. The
raise of these laws improves the ecological economics itself while setting up the theories and principles
that can be used to guide the coordinative development of economy and ecology in China. The
monograph The Eco-Economic Management towards the 21st Century was actively introduced and
recommended to the society by the Peoples Daily, Guangming Daily, Beijing Daily and Newsletter of
the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and was regarded as a high quality research achievement
which played an important role of guiding the practice 5, and was awarded the prize of an excellent
research achievement by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Since its publication, the monograph The Eco-Economic Management towards the 21 st Century has
played a remarkable role of guiding the practice of the economic development in coordination with the
eco-environment in China. For example, the paper The Eco-Economic Management in Urban Area
during Moving towards the 21st Century, written by the author Wang Songpei with the point of view
of the monograph, was delivered at a national symposium, published in Environment Protection, and
reprinted by 19 journals in Hong Kong and China mainland. And it was recommended to many
managers in this field. A number of cities and counties in Hunan Province, Henan Province, Hainan
Province, and Dongying Limited Co. in Hainan Province, etc., invited the author and other experts in
this field to help inspect their eco-environments and plan how to construct eco-economic cities, eco-
economic counties, and eco-manors. After the great flood in the Yangtze River and its tributaries in
1998, the National Forestry Bureau twice invited the author to write papers and monographs to call for
complete control of the floods in large rivers on the basis of sustainable development. The Ocean
Strategy Institute of the National Ocean Bureau invited the author and some others to write the
monograph The Ocean Eco-Economy Research, thus the ocean management in China was pushed
into the orbit of eco-economic management.

2. Jointly researching and discussing the important issues in Chinas economic construction together
with the government departments

After its establishment, the Chinese Society for Ecological Economics together with the Ministry of
Agriculture and other government departments co-held successively many important symposiums
during the middle and late 1980s as follows, such as the National Symposium of Eco-Agriculture in
Fuyang City, Anhui Province; the Symposium of Improving the Eco-Environment and Strengthening
the Agricultural Staying Power in the Upper and Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River in Chongqing
City and Dazu County of Sichuan Province; the Symposium of the Issues on the National Grasslands
in Hailar City of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, etc. These symposiums played a role of
promoting the eco-economic theory to combine with the practice and to guide the practice. In order to
better guide the practice and to develop the theory itself at the same time, the Chinese Society f or
Ecological Economics set up 9 sub-societies successively after its founding. These sub-societies are:
4
One of the priority projects of the Chinese National Research Plan of Social Sciences for the Eighth Economic Development
Five-Year Plan finished by the author from 1992-1995.
5
See Peoples Daily, February 21, 1998; Guangming Daily, October 10, 1997; Beijing Daily, May 11, 1998; Newsletter of
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, September 12 and October 24, 1997.

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Society of Eco-Economic Theory and Development, Society of Urban Eco-Economy, Society of Rural
Eco-Economy, Society of Regional Eco-Economy, Society of Resources and Eco-Economy, Society of
Forestry Eco-Economy, Society of Subsidence Eco-Economy, Society of Eco-Economic Education and
Society of Eco-Economy of the Youth. These sub-Societies worked together with the relevant central
and local government departments and agencies to research and solve the problems appeared in the
practice and to develop the eco-economic theory.

3. Disseminating the knowledge of ecological economics and raising the whole peoples consciousness
of ecological economics

According to the eco-economic theory in China, human beings have the dominant position in the eco-
economic system. Most eco-economic problems in social economic development are caused by human
beings themselves during developing economy, because they have not the sense of coordinating the
development of economy with ecology in mind as the guidance, so take wrong economic actions.
Therefore, these eco-economic problems can only be solved by human beings with conscious of the
coordinative development of ecology and economy and taking the correct economic actions. For this
reason, the Chinese Society for Ecological Economics has been for many years focusing on organizing
the eco-economic training and rousing the peoples consciousness. In this aspect, two noticeable pieces
of work have been done. Firstly, the Chinese Society for Ecological Economics and the Society for
Eco-Economics of Yunnan Province jointly offered training courses on eco-economic problems in
Kunming City, Yunnan Province, in 1987. The trainees were more than one thousand from different
trades and professions of 28 out of 30 provinces and municipalities, from deputy directors of the
provincial Peoples Congress to ordinary workers and farmers. This training effectively pushed forward
wide dissemination of the knowledge of ecological economics. Secondly, the Chinese Society for
Ecological Economics and the Theory Division of the China Central Broadcast Station jointly gave a
series of lectures on The Coordinative Development of Economy with Ecology over radio from June
to September, 1993. The audience was about several ten millions. Then the lectures were published as a
popular book in ten thousand copies, entitled The Call of the Eco-Era: The Coordinative Development
of Economy and Ecological environment, which successfully facilitated to arouse the whole peoples
consciousness of eco-economy.

Insisting on the orientation of serving and directing the practice, the eco-economic theory in China over
the past two decades has played a distinct role of promoting Chinas economic development to
coordinate with the ecological environment. The conspicuous examples are given below.

a. Raising the theory of coordinative development between ecology and economy to provide a
theoretical basis for the sustainable development.

According to the theory of eco-economics in China, the coordination of ecological environment with
the economy is the basis and precondition of sustainable development. Only by realizing the
coordination of ecological environment with the economy, can sustainable development of the
economy be reached. Furthermore, the coordination of economy with the eco-environment includes
longitudinal coordination and latitudinal coordination; sustainable development has narrow implication
and broad implication. In the narrow sense, sustainable development usually means the longitudinal
coordination, while in the broad sense it also contains the latitudinal coordination which plays the role
as the basis of the former. The core theory of the eco-economics is the theory of economy coordinated
with the ecology, which decides the eco-economics as a science of offering theoretical basis for
sustainable development.

b. Putting forward the idea that deepening Chinese economic reform in the relationship between human
beings and the nature is a new development of Chinas economic reform in the new era.

Using the theory of ecological economics to guide economic development is essentially to deepen
economic reform in the relationship between human beings and the nature. In the past twenty years,
following the objective economic law, China attained great achievements in improving the relationship
between human beings, reforming economic systems and the peoples ideas, which could not meet the
demand of the social productive force. In the new era, while continuing to reform in this aspect, it is
also necessary to improve the relationship between human beings and the nature. That is to follow the
objective natural law, to reform the economic systems and the peoples ideas which could not meet the
demand of developing the natural productive force, and realizing the sustainable development of

8
economy. This theory of the eco-economics will provide the theoretical basis for Chinas
comprehensive and deep economic reform.

c. Raising the new policy suggestions on how to utilize the natural resources

For a long time, China wrongly plundered the natural resources, and seriously destroyed the eco-
environment. However, in order to develop the economy and improve the peoples lives, the natural
resources have to be used. On issues of using the natural resources to develop the economy, the
viewpoints only use, no protection and only protect, no use are all wrong. The viewpoint use first,
protect later is also incomplete. This viewpoint results in repeating the old way of the developed
countries that destroyed first, controlled later and polluted first, cleared later, and will make the
economic development unsustainable. Correctly utilizing the natural resources should be based on
economic development coordinated with the eco-environment, eliminate the contrariness between the
utilization and protection of the natural resources, and organically integrate the utilization with the
protection of the natural resources. Based on this viewpoint, the eco-economics in China has raised the
new policy suggestion of utilizing the natural resources, that is, protect the natural resources while
utilizing and utilize the natural resources while protecting. This viewpoint was raised in the 1980s;
recently, both the central government and President Jiang Zemin cite it in their relevant documents and
addresses6.

Chinas ecological economics joins the world

The systematic theories of Chinas ecological economics that emerged in the past two decades have
played an important role of serving and guiding practical activities. At present, the concept ecological
economy has been accepted by officials at different levels and by ordinary people mass, and the idea
economic development should co-ordinate with its ecological environment has deeply rooted in
peoples mind. All these show a bright future of Chinas ecological economics. However, Chinas
ecological economics is, after all, a freshly emerged interdisciplinary science in the new circumstance
of economic globalisation. So, facing new practical requirements in the new century, Chinas ecological
economics needs exploitation and innovation in its disciplinary theoretical construction and also needs
joining the world. The present achievements gained in research and the role it has played of guiding
practical activities is only preliminary. Practice is the essential driving force to promote disciplinary
theory moving forward. With respect to serving and solving practical problems in ecological economy
in the new era, and with a view of the future disciplinary development, we think that the present
theoretical research of Chinas ecological economics has to be reinforced in the following aspects:

1. Expanding research areas. Restricted by the available institutions, staff and condition, Chinas
ecological economic researches are now mainly confined to such areas as ecological agriculture and
ecological forestry, etc., while comparatively few have been done in areas such as ecological industry
and ecological mining industry. Theoretical research in ecological economics still remains
comparatively weak. And ecological economists have not yet (or very few) studied some important
ecological economic issues closely related to national economic development. All these have been
limiting the full play of the role of ecological economics. It is necessary for Chinas ecological
economics to reinforce study in the above-mentioned areas.

2. Organizing expert teams. During the process of founding Chinas ecological economics in the past
20 years, a large number of ecological economists have grown up and played an important role both in
disciplinary theoretical construction and in serving and guiding practical activities. However, owing to
lack of efficient organization, Chinas ecological economic research is now in a spontaneous, scattered
and duplicated state, so incapable of carrying on important research projects. In order to overcome
these shortcomings, the CSEE should do more organizational work. Nevertheless, it is difficult for the
CSEE alone to do the work. In order to adapt to the requirement of the ecological era, China should
build or form a research center to meet the need of disciplinary development, and to be capable of
organizing nationwide ecological economists to construct the discipline and serve practice. This is a
key to the efficient utilization of expert human resources, accordingly natural resources, and to the
realization of a sustainable and coordinated development of ecology and economy.
6
See Wang Songpei et al., Research Report of Economic Development Coordinated with the Eco-Environment in Tropical and
Semi-Tropical Minority Area, a task assigned by the Committee of the National Ethnical Affairs, p. 74. This report was later
collected in Zhao Yannian (eds.) The Discussion of the Development Strategies in the Minority and the Ethnical Area in
1990s, Chinese Socio-Science Press, 1993, p.493.

9
3. Reinforce quantitative research.
Despite of the difficulties in institutions, staff and condition, Chinas ecological economics, as a freshly
emerged discipline during the past two decades, has attained remarkable achievements. Through the
assiduous research and dissemination works to elevate peoples ecological economic awareness, it has
made much success in promoting the construction of disciplinary theoretical system and in serving and
guiding practical activities. However, there also inevitably exist many shortcomings and weaknesses,
one of which is that there are comparatively more qualitative studies and less quantitative studies.
Consequently, Chinas ecological economics is weak in strength to guide practical activities. This kind
of problem was noticed in the monograph Ecological Economic Management towards the 21st
Century, published under the organization of the CSEE during Chinas Eighth Five-year Plan
period. In this monograph, the theory that economic efficiency should coordinate and be compatible
with ecological safety was first put forward. Chinas ecological economic research, viewed
retrospectively, has experienced an evolutionary process from first realizing the contradiction between
economy and ecology, to realizing the contradiction between economic demand and ecological
supply, then to realizing the contradiction between the unlimited economic demand and the limited
ecological supply, and finally, nowadays, to realizing the contradiction between economic efficiency
and ecological safety. Compared with previous studies that were all mainly qualitative, it is a
breakthrough for Chinas ecological economics to focus the contradiction between ecology and
economy on the disagreement between economic efficiency and ecological safety. The focusing has
made the management practically operable, and made it possible for Chinas ecological economics to
further guide quantitative research. On the basis of this kind of research, to further promote the eco-
economic theory to develop in the quantitative direction is to further promote its role of guiding
practice, and also to further develop the discipline itself.

4. Reinforce cooperation and exchange with international ecological economic research.

Sustainable development of society and economy is the common course of all nations. Ecological
economics, which provides a theoretical basis for sustainable development, is also a worldwide
discipline. Since each country has its own social and economic characteristics and conditions, it is
necessary for different countries to develop ecological economics with their own characteristics.
Meanwhile, however, the disagreement between ecology and economy and the task to realize
sustainable development of society and economy, on which the ecological economic research of all
nations is focused, are mainly in common and consistent. So, there objectively exist theories and
principles of a worldwide ecological economics, which is a synthesis and summarization of ecological
economic researches done in different countries. It is also necessary for different countries to learn
from each other to get inspiration and experience in their national ecological economic research and in
the application of ecological economic theory to guide practice. All these have made it necessary for
different countries to exchange and cooperate frequently and intensively with each other in their
ecological economic research. During the past two decades, Chinas ecological economic researches,
being limited in understanding and especially in condition, have done poorly in these exchanges and
cooperation, or acted in an isolated state. This has been another major defect in Chinas ecological
economic research. In the meantime, China is a big developing country with vast area, plenty of natural
resources, various ecological systems and biodiversity, as well as many experiences of destroying and
reconstructing ecological systems. In addition to these, China has a history and culture of several
thousand years. Her ancient philosophy of the unity of heaven and human being (means the unity of
nature and man) and the excellent traditional experience of organic agriculture, etc., are still directing
people to treat the relationship between human and nature correctly, and therefore helpful to realize the
sustainable development of economy. According to the above mentioned facts, Chinese ecological
economics should be an open discipline, in terms of the development itself and of its duty to the world,
should join the world rapidly. At present, large-scale ecological economic constructions are progressing
in Chinas economic development, such as: The Great Exploration of The West on the basis of
ecological environment construction; plant trees to build an ecological screen of national economy;
stop growing grain crops on sloping fields; construct ecological provinces, cities, counties; develop
ecological agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, industry, tourism, etc. We would like to
make academic exchanges and cooperative researches with foreign experts in many ecological
economic spheres, as well as in making comparative researches between China and other countries.
We hope through these to facilitate Chinas ecological economics stepping into the world rapidly, and
to promote the development of its research more rapidly.

Conclusion

10
1. The emergence of Chinas ecological economics reflects the claim of the Ecological Era. Chinas
ecological economics started to establish from 1980. It emerged at the claim of the Ecological Era, and
its goal was to realize the harmonious development of economy and ecology as well as the sustainable
development of social economy. In China, theories of ecological economics were established by the
joint efforts of nation wide experts organized by the Chinese Society of Ecological Economics. The
establishment of its preliminary theoretic system, that cost about seven years, provided the theoretic
base for the sustainable economic development in China.

2. The aim of establishing Chinas ecological economics is to guide the economic practice. In the past
20 years, Chinese ecological economists, in cooperation with relevant government departments,
researched on various practical eco-economic problems, and organized various ecological economic
training courses to raise the eco-economic awareness of the leaders at different levels and the masses.
All these contributed much to the sustainable development of Chinas economy.

3. Chinas ecological economics should join the world. Sustainable development of society and
economy is the common course of all nations. And ecological economics, which provides a theoretical
basis for sustainable development, is also a worldwide discipline. So it is necessary for different
countries to learn from each other to get inspiration and experience in their national ecological
economic research and in the application of ecological economic theory to guide practice. During the
past two decades, Chinas ecological economic researches have done poorly in exchanges and
cooperation with other counties. This has been a major defect in Chinas ecological economic research.
Henceforth, Chinas ecological economics should join the world, change the current isolated state of
research, and get further development in cooperation and exchange with experts all over the world.

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