Beyond the Great Wall #6: Reconciliation of Economy and Environment

Environmental interests often clashes with economic ones, as if we have to choose one and sacrifice the other. However, one of the eco-city projects in China, Tianjin Eco-City, says otherwise. Arinda Putri, Bachelor of Political Science from Department of International Relations Universitas Gadjah, shared the results of her research on this matter in the 6th Beyond the Great Wall (BTGW), a bi-monthly public discussion organized by the Institute of International Studies on political, social, or economic issues related to China, on Friday (6/12). Alongside Arinda, M. Irsyad Abrar, student from Department of International Relations, and Nur Rachmat Yuliantoro, Head of the Department and the initiator of Beyond the Great Wall, attended the event as speakers.

In Irsyad Abrar’s explanation related to the challenges and responses of China to its energy security, it was conveyed that, until today, coal is still dominantly used in China, regardless of the environmental complication it caused.

“… in volume, (the use of coal) jumped very dramatically. This problem rises in line with the rise of China as the country with the second largest economy in the world.”, said Abrar.

Domestic pressure from the citizens, especially on the East Coast, as well as pressure from the global community has led China to try to use energy perceived ‘cleaner’ than coal, namely petroleum, natural gas and other new renewable energies. However, these resources have not been able to replace the massive use of coal. This is because the increased supply of alternative resources has not been able to match the speed of energy consumption increase in China.

“Several news channels reported that numerous coal mines are closing. In fact, a number of new coal mines, in Northeast China region of Manchuria, gained the permission to open recently.”, added Abrar.

Although a tone that tends to be pessimistic appears from the coal sector, the Tianjin Eco-City project brings a breath of fresh air in Chinese ecological discourse. Responding to the surge of coal consumption in China, various efforts were being done, including the establishment of Eco-City projects.

“There are several eco-city projects that have been initiated by the Chinese government since 2003. Most of them failed, but the Tianjin Eco-City project in collaboration with the Singapore government proves otherwise,” said Arinda.

This cooperation is carried out by means of exchanging resources between Singapore and China, namely  the transfer of water resources technology by enforcing the sovereignty of the water sector; procurement of water reclamation facilities; and restoration of Lake Jing, which functions as pollution disposal target  for over four decades.

“Through this collaboration, Tianjin has  become the first city in China where people are able to drink tap water.” explained Arinda further.

From an economic perspective, the impact of this collaboration is massive, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased since 2007. Moreover, in 2010-2014, Tianjin have had more than 10,000 tourists and 1000 companies with interest in investing.

A low-carbon behavior was also shown by residents of Tianjin Eco-City. One results of research conducted to local resident stated that 67.3% of respondents said they were willing to pay a monthly premium to support environmentally friendly electricity. Along with it, an environment-related education is also being taught from primary school. As a result, citizens from grass-root level acquired a better understanding of the concept of green and eco-city.

On the downside, this cooperation has allowed a wider sphere of authority owned by the companies. This has led to several compliance issues and surge other problems to local politics.

Nevertheless, the Eco City cooperation have cracked an answer to an ‘either or’ case of economy and environment, a long overdue debate.

At the end of the discussion, Nur Rachmat Yuliantoro symbolically closed the discussion to mark the end of the first BTGW  series. All six discussion conducted in this series has been an insightful introduction  to China’s politics and social issues. Beyond the Great Wall series will come back with a new format next year, stay in touch!

Author: Sonya Teresa Debora
Editor: Thifani Tiara Ranti