Dynamics of international aid in the Chinese context: a case study of the World Bank's Cixi Wetlands Project in Zhejiang Province

Environmental degradation in China, intensified by open-door reforms and industrialization, has been increasing at an alarming scale. Domestically, environmental governance has been poor, often due to institutional constraints and lack of “good practices.” However, recently there have been studies o...

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Main Authors: Tan-Mullins, May, Chen Guangli, Gary
Format: Article
Published: Cambridge University Press 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51034/
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author Tan-Mullins, May
Chen Guangli, Gary
author_facet Tan-Mullins, May
Chen Guangli, Gary
author_sort Tan-Mullins, May
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Environmental degradation in China, intensified by open-door reforms and industrialization, has been increasing at an alarming scale. Domestically, environmental governance has been poor, often due to institutional constraints and lack of “good practices.” However, recently there have been studies on how the “foreign factor” might have profound positive effects on capacity building in China and how international actors could lead to the successful introduction of good environmental governance. In this article, we present a study of a successful case: the World Bank Global Environmental Facility Cixi Wetlands project in Ningbo, China. The article examines the following: (a) the unique local context enabling the diffusion of international norms; (b) the factors which contribute to the World Bank's leverage role in restructuring local project governance; and (c) the changes in local environmental governance arising from the Bank's involvement. By evaluating this project, the article will demonstrate how the World Bank managed to introduce and socialize local actors into project-specific policy dialogues and procedures that enhanced local compliance with its international practices and standards.
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spelling nottingham-510342020-05-04T16:35:05Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51034/ Dynamics of international aid in the Chinese context: a case study of the World Bank's Cixi Wetlands Project in Zhejiang Province Tan-Mullins, May Chen Guangli, Gary Environmental degradation in China, intensified by open-door reforms and industrialization, has been increasing at an alarming scale. Domestically, environmental governance has been poor, often due to institutional constraints and lack of “good practices.” However, recently there have been studies on how the “foreign factor” might have profound positive effects on capacity building in China and how international actors could lead to the successful introduction of good environmental governance. In this article, we present a study of a successful case: the World Bank Global Environmental Facility Cixi Wetlands project in Ningbo, China. The article examines the following: (a) the unique local context enabling the diffusion of international norms; (b) the factors which contribute to the World Bank's leverage role in restructuring local project governance; and (c) the changes in local environmental governance arising from the Bank's involvement. By evaluating this project, the article will demonstrate how the World Bank managed to introduce and socialize local actors into project-specific policy dialogues and procedures that enhanced local compliance with its international practices and standards. Cambridge University Press 2012-12-05 Article PeerReviewed Tan-Mullins, May and Chen Guangli, Gary (2012) Dynamics of international aid in the Chinese context: a case study of the World Bank's Cixi Wetlands Project in Zhejiang Province. China Quarterly, 212 . pp. 1000-1018. ISSN 1468-2648 environmental governance; World Bank; Global Environmental Facility; China https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/china-quarterly/article/dynamics-of-international-aid-in-the-chinese-context-a-case-study-of-the-world-banks-cixi-wetlands-project-in-zhejiang-province/428A7BA9EE5B9ACF7BA07A481726CCE4 doi:10.1017/S030574101200121X doi:10.1017/S030574101200121X
spellingShingle environmental governance; World Bank; Global Environmental Facility; China
Tan-Mullins, May
Chen Guangli, Gary
Dynamics of international aid in the Chinese context: a case study of the World Bank's Cixi Wetlands Project in Zhejiang Province
title Dynamics of international aid in the Chinese context: a case study of the World Bank's Cixi Wetlands Project in Zhejiang Province
title_full Dynamics of international aid in the Chinese context: a case study of the World Bank's Cixi Wetlands Project in Zhejiang Province
title_fullStr Dynamics of international aid in the Chinese context: a case study of the World Bank's Cixi Wetlands Project in Zhejiang Province
title_full_unstemmed Dynamics of international aid in the Chinese context: a case study of the World Bank's Cixi Wetlands Project in Zhejiang Province
title_short Dynamics of international aid in the Chinese context: a case study of the World Bank's Cixi Wetlands Project in Zhejiang Province
title_sort dynamics of international aid in the chinese context: a case study of the world bank's cixi wetlands project in zhejiang province
topic environmental governance; World Bank; Global Environmental Facility; China
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51034/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51034/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51034/