Marine Eco-Environmental Protection in China

III. Systematic Governance of the Marine Eco-Environment

China adopts a holistic approach to marine eco-environmental governance, while making extra efforts to address key points and problems. Through land-sea coordination and by increasing river-sea connectivity, it has effectively improved the marine eco-environment.

1. Comprehensive governance of key sea areas

Key sea areas, such as the Bohai Sea, the Yangtze River Estuary-Hangzhou Bay, and the Pearl River Estuary, are located at the strategic intersections of China's coast where high-quality development is in full swing. These areas, which are economically developed and densely populated and whose marine ecosystem shows strong local features, face significant eco-environmental challenges arising from intensive marine development and utilization. They have thus been made the focal point for comprehensive marine eco-environmental governance.

The comprehensive governance of the Bohai Sea. The Bohai Sea is semi-enclosed and therefore has limited capacity for water exchange and self-purification.

China launched its first campaign against marine pollution in 2018, setting the comprehensive governance of the Bohai Sea a main target of pollution control during the 13th Five-year Plan (2016-2020) period. The overall plan set out to complete top-level design in one year, gather momentum in two years, and achieve preliminary progress in three years, with a focus on the “1+12” coastal cities in the Circum-Bohai Sea Region. The five core goals of this plan were to raise the proportion of nearshore sea areas with good to excellent water quality, eliminate substandard waters in seagoing rivers, identify and rectify sea-entering sewage discharge outlets, and restore coastal wetlands and coastlines. The major tasks laid out in the plan included controlling pollution, protecting the eco-environment, and guarding against risks.

Over the course of three years, China successfully completed the core goals and tasks set out by the plan for the Bohai Sea. As a result, the deterioration of the eco-environment in this region was contained, and a positive momentum sustained. In 2020, the proportion of nearshore sea areas with good to excellent water quality (Grade I and II) reached 82.3 percent – an increase of 15.3 percentage points from 2017. Additionally, all 49 seagoing rivers saw their state-monitored sections completely free from inferior Grade V water, and a total of 8,891 hectares of coastal wetlands and 132 kilometers of coastlines were restored.

The comprehensive governance of key sea areas. In 2021, based on its achievements in the Bohai Sea, China expanded its comprehensive governance endeavors to include the Yangtze River Estuary-Hangzhou Bay and the sea areas near the Pearl River Estuary. It identified the governance of these three key sea areas as one of the signature anti-pollution campaigns during the 14th Five-year Plan (2021-2025) period, and assigned tasks to the nearby eight coastal provinces and municipalities and 24 coastal prefecture-level cities. Based on targeted, scientific and law-based pollution control, these cities have carried out comprehensive, systematic governance at the source through land-sea coordination.

The process has been smooth and notable progress has been achieved in all the major tasks. The water quality in the three key sea areas has shown marked improvement, with the proportion of sea areas with good to excellent water quality (Grade I and II) reaching 67.5 percent in 2023, an increase of 8.8 percentage points from 2020.

2. Synergic governance of land-sourced pollution

Marine eco-environmental problems manifest in the sea, but their root causes lie on land. In order to alleviate the impact of land-sourced pollution on the marine environment, China has adopted robust measures to coordinate land-sea pollution control and monitor the key pathways that channel land-sourced pollutants into the sea.

Tightening pollution control for seagoing rivers. Seagoing rivers are the primary routes for carrying land-sourced pollutants into seas.

China has significantly improved its urban sewage treatment quality and efficiency by constructing and upgrading separate pipe networks for rainwater and sewage, tightening supervision over the sewage treatment sector, and reducing the impact of urban industrial and sanitary sewage on the water quality of seagoing rivers. Since 2012, the construction of sewage treatment infrastructure in coastal areas has accelerated markedly, and sewage treatment plants in cities at or above the prefectural level have been upgraded to Grade I-A standards.

Since the beginning of the 14th Five-year Plan period in 2021, China has also initiated efforts to improve its rural environment. Coastal provinces have completed comprehensive environmental improvement for 17,000 administrative villages, enacted livestock and poultry breeding pollution control plans for 170 counties heavily involved in animal husbandry, and reached a sanitary sewage treatment rate of more than 45 percent, substantially reducing sewage discharges in agriculture and rural areas.

China has implemented a comprehensive remediation system to tackle nearshore water pollution and eutrophication caused by excessive nitrogen emissions in river basins. By forming a comprehensive management network covering coastal areas, river basins, and sea areas, China has shifted total nitrogen control to the upper reaches of seagoing rivers, and administered river-specific policy for total nitrogen management.

Between 2012 and 2017, the water quality in the state-monitored sections of China's seagoing rivers generally remained stable with slight improvement, and a substantial improvement was recorded beginning in 2018. Currently, four-fifths of all state-monitored sections have good to excellent water quality (Grade I, II, and III), while sections with very poor water quality (inferior Grade V) have been eliminated.

Strengthening the administration of key sea-entering sewage discharge outlets. Sea-entering sewage discharge outlets are major outlets through which land-sourced pollutants enter the sea. China has promulgated the Implementation Directives on Strengthening Supervision and Administration of Sewage Discharge Outlets into Rivers and Seas, which directs the identification, monitoring, source tracing, and rectification of such outlets and promotes a whole-process management system for nearshore waters, sea-entering sewage discharge outlets, sewage discharge pipes, and pollution sources.

With the goal of enforcing inspection of each and every sea-entering sewage discharge outlet, the country has identified the total number and distribution of all the sea-entering sewage discharge outlets, how sewage is discharged in each outlet and who are in charge of these outlets. Such information helps delineate responsibilities and promote rectification at the source. By the end of 2023, the government had surveyed more than 53,000 sea-entering sewage discharge outlets and rectified over 16,000 of them, amplifying its role in improving nearshore eco-environments.

A unified information disclosure platform has been built to further regulate the setup and administration of sea-entering sewage discharge outlets. The construction of new industrial sewage discharge outlets and urban sewage treatment outlets is strictly prohibited in nature reserves, key fishery waters, bathing beaches, and areas within conservation red lines.

Cleaning up and controlling marine litter. China has issued guiding documents, such as the Directives on Further Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control and the Action Plan for Plastic Pollution Control During the 14th Five-Year Plan Period, to address the issue of marine plastic litter at its source.

Additional measures have been put in place to monitor, intercept, collect, salvage, transport, and process marine litter. Coastal cities have enforced regular control and cleanup of marine litter from seagoing rivers and in nearshore waters through programs such as Sanitation at Sea. The Blue Circle project, a new model of marine plastic waste management initiated by Zhejiang Province, won the UN's 2023 Champions of the Earth award.

China has synergized litter control for rivers, lakes, and seas. In 2022, special actions were taken to clean up marine litter in 11 key bays, including the Jiaozhou Bay. More than 188,000 people participated in the cleanup action and removed a total of 55,300 tonnes of litter from banks, coastlines, and the sea. In 2024, to consolidate the achievements in its marine litter cleanup actions, the country expanded its targets from key bays to all coastal cities.

China has conducted systematic monitoring of marine litter and microplastics. Compared with the results of similar international surveys in recent years, the average density of China's nearshore marine litter and offshore microplastics are at medium and low levels.

3. Targeted control of marine pollution

Placing equal emphasis on development and protection, China has continued to tighten regular supervision over industries such as marine engineering, dumping of wastes at sea, mariculture, and maritime transport, and actively responded to marine environmental emergencies, making every effort to improve marine pollution prevention and control and reduce the impact of marine development and utilization on the marine eco-environment.

Exercising strict control over the eco-environmental impact of marine engineering and dumping of wastes at sea. China is continuing to optimize its administration of environmental impact assessment (EIA), exercising management at the source and tightening control on marine engineering operations such as land reclamation from the sea and marine sand and gravel mining. The country has also strengthened pollution prevention and control for marine oil and gas exploration and development, and exercises unified authority over EIA approval and pollutant discharge supervision.

China is formulating technical standards to bring marine engineering pollutants into discharge permit administration. It selects and delineates ocean dumping sites based on sound planning and with regards to cost and safety considerations. It meticulously assesses the operation of these sites to ensure eco-environmental safety and safe navigable water depths. The Chinese government enforces strict ocean dumping permits, and exercises off-site supervision through automatic vessel identification and online monitoring of ocean dumping to minimize the eco-environmental impact of waste dumping.

Enforcing systematic pollution prevention and control of mariculture. China has issued the Directives on Accelerating the Green Development of Aquaculture and the Directives on Strengthening Eco-Environmental Regulation on Mariculture. These guiding documents set standards for pollution discharge, emphasize the EIA administration, and enable category-specific rectification and tailwater monitoring for sewage discharge outlets. This helps to systematically tighten eco-environmental regulation on mariculture. Coastal provinces and equivalent administrative units have also enacted standards for mariculture tailwater discharge and have intensified their regulation efforts.

Mariculture is regulated by EIA administration, which falls under the List of Construction Projects Under Category-Specific Administration on Environmental Impact Assessment. Local governments have closed down, merged and regulated unauthorized and misplaced mariculture tailwater outfalls, while promoting pond aquaculture, industrial aquaculture, and eco-upgrading of net cages to improve aquaculture environments. Coastal provinces, municipalities and counties have released plans regarding the use of mudflats for mariculture, delineating forbidden zones, restricted zones, and designated zones for mariculture.

Intensifying pollution prevention and control for ships in ports. To comply with the Water Pollutant Discharge Standards for Vessels, China has launched special actions to address water pollution from vessels, and makes sure that environment-friendly standards have been included in shipbuilding technology laws and regulations.

The country has strengthened joint regulation of the transfer and disposal of water pollutants from vessels, and coastal provinces and equivalent administrative units have completed the construction of basic vessel pollutant receiving, transfer, and disposal facilities.

Continuous inspection of vessel fuel quality is conducted, and stricter regulations have been put in place for the provision and use of power facilities for berthed vessels to identify and eliminate hidden risks.

Establishing the marine environmental emergency response system. China has implemented the National Contingency Response Plan for Major Marine Oil Spills and the Contingency Response Plan for Oil Spills Damaging the Environment During Marine Oil Exploration and Development. These plans outline the organizational structure, procedures, information management and disclosure, and safeguard measures for handling marine oil spill emergencies in a relatively complete response system.

China has intensified its effort to identify marine environmental risks. Accordingly, Liaoning, Hebei, and Shandong provinces and Tianjin Municipality in the Circum-Bohai Sea Region have conducted assessment of risks of environmental emergencies and worked out contingency response plans for more than 5,400 key enterprises involved in hazardous chemicals, heavy metals, industrial waste, and nuclear power.

In addition, China has developed a national marine environmental emergency response command system, built a smart platform that integrates communications, monitoring, decision-making, command, and coordination, and strengthened its information technology capability for emergency response.

An “oil fingerprint” identification system has been developed, which has collected over 3,200 crude oil samples. This system allows for full-coverage sampling from marine oil exploration and development platforms and provides key evidence for resolving disputes and conducting damage assessments over marine oil spills.

4. Beautiful Bay Initiative

Bays are essential to sustaining the improvement of the marine eco-environment. China has launched an initiative to build beautiful bays providing clear seawater, clean beaches, and desirable habitats for fish and seabirds, and promoting harmony between humans and seas. Bay-specific policies have been adopted to coordinate nearshore pollution control, eco-environmental conservation and restoration, and environmental rectification of shores and beaches.

Specifying goals and tasks of building beautiful bays. The Outline for the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 outlines the initiative of protecting and building beautiful bays. The Recommendations on Advancing the Beautiful China Initiative on All Fronts also includes building beautiful bays as part of the overall plan to build a beautiful China, designating a mid-term completion of 40 percent by 2027 and a full completion by 2035. The Plan for Marine Eco-Environmental Protection During the 14th Five-Year Plan Period focuses on building beautiful bays, delineating nearshore areas into 283 bay units, and designating goals, tasks, and measures for each.

The Optimized Action Plan for Building Beautiful Bays designates more than 110 bays as key programs to be completed by 2027. The work of building beautiful bays is advancing steadily. By the end of 2023, about half of the 1,682 key tasks and construction projects had been completed, with 475 kilometers of coastlines and 16,700 hectares of coastal wetlands improved and restored, at least 85 proportion of the sea areas in 167 bays had good to excellent water quality, and the proportion of sea areas with good to excellent water quality in 102 bays had been increased from 2022.

Synergizing multiple measures for building beautiful bays. China has established the criteria for beautiful bays, emphasizing the importance of maintaining good bay eco-environments, healthy marine ecosystems, and harmony between humans and seas. Under this framework, the country has identified five categories of indicators to guide local endeavors and to encourage supplementary local indicators adapted to local conditions.

To oversee progress, an administration platform for building beautiful bays has been established. Using on-site surveys and remote sensing monitoring, the authorities trace and assess progress in smart supervision and urge all levels of government to implement comprehensive bay management in light of local conditions and complete the tasks assigned to them.

To fund these projects, a multifaceted financing mechanism has been created to amplify government guidance and incentivize the participation ofoperation entitiesand private capital. Comprehensive fiscal and financial means, such as fiscal investment, special bonds, and environment-oriented development projects have been employed to accelerate the implementation of beautiful bay projects.

Emphasis has been placed on innovation in institutions, mechanisms, and key technologies, and outstanding cases have been selected to showcase successful examples and demonstration models and elevate the overall level of beautiful bay projects. Currently, 20 state-level outstanding cases have been selected.

Through comprehensive governance of key sea areas, land-sea coordination in pollution control, and building beautiful bays, China's nearshore water quality has improved; in 2023, the proportion of sea areas with good to excellent water quality saw a 21.3 percentage points increase from 2012.