ABSTRACT
The PRC central leaders seemingly made a U-turn on their attitudes about the relationship between economic development and environmental protection during the last two decades: up until the mid-2000s economic development took by far the highest priority of all political targets. While laws on environmental protection existed, there was not just a failure in implementation, but in fact environmental protection did just take a very low position in the bureaucratic system (Wang 2013, 388). Scientists could barely get officials ears when bringing forwards concerns about the environment. The Chinese central government is endeavouring to add more green elements in its economic development. Green development has been firmly put in place in the 18th National Congress of Chinese Communist Party's report in 2012 (Hu 2012). The 13th Five-Year Plan emphasized repeatedly the necessary transition of the development mode towards green development, and the tenth section focuses particularly on how to improve environment protection, promote resource conservation, and provide ecological products to the people (Xinhua 2016).
