Chapter 3: China’s Policies for Promoting the Circular Economy: Past-Decade Experiences, Future Plans and Success Stories

Smog and other environmental effects of accelerated industrialisation are increasingly driving China towards more restorative economic models. One of these is the circular economy (CE), which encourages the design of products and systems that can be returned and the materials recycled, reused or remanufactured. This chapter discusses the experiences with China’s policies for promoting the CE over the past decade as well as future plans. It is based on a thorough review of China’s policies originally available in Chinese. Exemplary CE projects with success stories are also presented. The aim is to present a more comprehensive understanding of China’s CE efforts. Other developing countries also facing environmental and resource challenges can draw on China’s experiences in developing their own CE.