Total emission control policy in China

China is facing serious environmental problems as a consequence of rapid economic growth of the past three decades. To curb increased levels of environmental pollution, China piloted a system of Total emission control (TEC) in 1988 and implemented the TEC policy nationwide in 1996, allotting emission quotas to its provincial governments with a target of 10% reduction in pollutants emissions over a five-year period since then. It was claimed that the TEC policy played a critical role in cutting annual emission of targeted pollutants and improving the quality of the environment. This report briefly discusses the scope and the effectiveness of the TEC policy and suggests that the scope should be more focused and the TEC as one of the national pollution control strategies should be carefully reviewed yet acquiring reliable and accountable pollution data has been a technical challenge.