Bill Butcher

Chinese Cooperatives and Environmental Social Responsibility

Chinas remarkable economic growth over the past thirty-five years has come at a cost, not least being a significant deterioration in its natural environment. The Chinese government has responded to this challenge with a range of measures including the imposition of environmental taxes on business enterprises. To what extent have cooperatives—and agricultural cooperatives in particular—been subjected to these imposts and what are the legal and practical impediments? Given the special status of agricultural cooperatives, as evidenced by a range of central and provincial government incentives, should they be afforded favorable treatment under the environmental protection regime or is all-encompassing support for their development outweighed by the imperative of environmental protection?