I spent almost a month travelling in China earlier in the summer. It was my first visit for over 35 years. In answer to the question 'Have you been to China before?', saying 'Yes, when Chairman Mao was alive' was a bit of a conversation stopper. My intention was to learn what the environmental and sustainability issues are for Chinese people, and how they are being addressed, if they are. Inevitably the answers are both positive and negative, and my impressions are coloured by the places I went to and the people I met, and so constitute a snapshot rather than a complete picture. But I did have one very big advantage: I travelled solo and had no engagement with official bodies of any kind. 'Sustainable development' as we understand it in the UK is not really on the agenda of ordinary Chinese citizens. Their concerns are more basic, but just as relevant. One thing that is striking is that there is almost no sign of any kind of harnessing of renewable energy at a local level - for example through solar PV or solar hot water on flats or houses in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, despite a benign climate. I was told that this is a result of how local government prioritises, and that the rush for economic growth is generally seen as more important at the local level.
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