Strategic Environmental Assessment and its development in China

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a frontier subject in the field of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This article describes the current situation of SEA in China, discusses major problems with SEA, and then recommends improvements in the system. In the past two decades, but especially in recent years, the inherent limitations of conventional project EIA have come to light. Thus, to pursue a broader course of sustainable development, the Chinese government has attached more and more importance to SEA. Some legislation has been enacted, and some research has been conducted on the topic in China, but most of the research has been focused on the concept, theory, and method of SEA. Comprehensive application of SEA in China has yet to occur, and only a limited number of case studies are available. SEA as applied today in China is confronted with a host of methodological and procedural limitations. Moreover, public participation is often extremely limited, because procedures restrict public participation. Policies and strategies are kept secret from the public. We believe SEA can be improved by the following recommendations: introduction of procedures to ensure the appropriate level of SEA be conducted for strategic proposals, development of strategic evaluation tools and techniques, encouragement of public participation, organization of educational programs, and implementation of SEA “experiments.”