China's Challenge of Sustainable Development

China has created an economic miracle in maintaining an annual growth rate of approximate 8% since its Open-Door reform in 1978. Despite many positive economic figures, China cannot ignore the fact that it is also the second largest energy consumer and faces severe environmental degradation all over the country. This book is organised around the themes of economic growth, energy, and sustainable development in the context of China. It first draws lessons from high-income OECD countries' experience of sustainable development. It is hoped that their development pathways could cast some light on how China would develop and reform in response to domestic economic transition as well as the changing international environment. The book then focuses on China. It investigates the determinants of sustainable development in terms of genuine savings rates and forecasts future energy use. In particular, the book links environmental and sustainability issues to poverty by discussing the prospect of 'green poverty reduction', as deprivation still prevails in many remote rural areas. It concludes by commenting on China's policy on decoupling the growth of GDP from the growth of energy consumption.