Introducing China’s New Environment Chief: Chen Jining

Just one year on from China’s famed declaration of war on pollution, the country has unveiled their new weapon. Chen Jining is a 51 year old environmental scientist, the President of the prestigious Tsinghua University and most recently is China’s Minister of Environmental Protection.  And it’s fair to say that his appointment has raised some eyebrows.

The Brief

Jining certainly has a mammoth task on his hands. Beijing has made a clear commitment to reversing the damage done to skies, rivers and soils during the massive restructure and growth period which previously overwhelmed the country.

Their initial move came under massive public pressure and the public remains angry about the lack of actual progress made so far. In addition, China has still to convince the many business owners and regional delegates that economic progress can be made at the same time as environmental awareness.

Who is he?

Chen has been described by colleagues as determined, well organised and bringing with him an expertise which will give him a technical advantage when it comes to policy making. However, there are concerns that his lack of experience could stand against him as he tries to make allies within the political field.

Ma Zhong, the Dean of the School of Environment and Natural Resources at China’s Renmin University commented “What he is facing is not only technical problems, but the trade-off between economic growth and social development, and he will also need bureaucratic skills to settle internal disputes.”

However, there are those who believe that his lack of political experience could become a powerful weapon. Erin Ryan, a student of Chinese Environment Legislation at the Lewis and Clark Law School said “There are downsides to being a political outsider, to be sure, but it also frees him from responsibility for the status quo - and perhaps will make it easier for him to reject the status quo and start down a new path."

In the past

What is certain, even at this early stage, is that Chen is an entirely different prospect than his predecessor. Zhou Shengxian had previously held the position from 2006. He had risen through the ranks of the political elite and was seen as a consummate insider who knew how to play the game.

However, his time in the post was also highly controversial as his tenure was marred by a variety of scandals including contamination of rivers and food sources and the discovery of dead animals in a water source. It should also be noted that air quality rapidly deteriorated whilst he held office. He was also notably ill at ease with scrutiny of his work and had failed to show up at a meeting with journalists which took place only days after the announcement on environmental policies. In sharp contrast, Chen has already held a number of public appearances and press conferences in which he has talked to local and national reporters about the challenges which lie ahead and his plans to fix them. 

Further Reading...

If you’ve not read much about China’s fight against pollution, you may be interested in these new stories first: China's Soil Pollution Too Bad for Farming in Many Areas, North China's Pollution Costs Its Residents 5 Years of Their Lives and China's Air Pollution 'Similar to Nuclear Winter'.