The highly visible environmental degradation and associated
health problems in China have drawn public attention. The central
government has realized the urgent need for environmental protection
and tried to influence local policymaking by pursuingGreenGDP
and other environmental performance evaluation projects (Li and
Higgins, 2011). However, local governments have always placed
GDPgrowth before environmental protection (Economy, 2004; Jahiel,
1997; Li, 2011). Thus, the Chinese public has to protect their environmental
interests from the development-oriented state and the
encroachment by strong business interests, especially duringongoing
rapid industrialization and urbanization in China.
Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
(1992) states that “[e]nvironmental issues are best handled
with the participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level”
and calls for the government’s facilitating public participation (United
Nations, 1992). The Aarhus Convention (1998) further requires the
government’s provision of public access to information, participation