Brownfield Remediation and Redevelopment in China

Massive cities in China are experiencing a shift in their economic structure from traditional manufacturing to service and skill-intensive manufacturing, which leaves behind underused or abandoned industrial sites with real or perceived contamination problems in central cities and/or peripheral regions. A comprehensive and sustainable strategy for brownfield remediation and redevelopment, which embraces ecological, economic and social benefits, is a hot topic in China. However, the country is lacking a comprehensive and effective legal and regulatory framework for brownfield remediation and redevelopment, uniform national standards on site assessment, cleanup and remediation, and effective funding or financing mechanisms from the national level to local levels. The purpose of this study is to examine policy tools that are being adopted in China to deal with brownfield remediation and redevelopment, compare them to those employed in the United States, make recommendations to improve existing frameworks, and try to coordinate cross-purpose programs in an integrated legal and regulatory framework.