The report points to three areas of success: broad-based and absolute reduction in industrial air and water pollutant emissions during the second half of the 1990s; the reversal of deforestation through massive investments in reforestation and afforestation; and the reversal of secondary salinization in irrigation areas through major programs of both control and prevention.

The report, prepared by a World Bank team and assisted by technical specialists from 10 Chinese research institutes, universities and NGOs, reviews the state of the environment, assesses the effectiveness of the government's environmental protection work over the last 10 years, and makes recommendations on how to address the new challenges which will face the country over the next 5 to 10 years. Overall, the report urges the environmental strategy to become more proactive. The current approach focuses mainly on remedying the adverse environmental effects of other, generally previous, development decisions. In the future, more emphasis should be placed on avoiding or minimizing the adverse environmental effects of development policy in the first place. The concept of environmentally sustainable development has to be firmly embedded in all relevant aspects of planning and development.

This is a World Bank report.