China, People's Republic of : Policy Research on Ecological Protection and Rural Vitalization for Supporting Green Development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Land-based natural resources management - Rural water policy, institutional and capacity development - Water-based natural resources management

Rural vitalization in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Among the rural villages, about 40% do not have garbage collection facilities; and about 80% lack basic sewage treatment, which contributes to poor environmental conditions. The environmental quality of these rural areas is further exacerbated by agriculture-related nonpoint source pollution from outdated production systems lacking effective waste management systems. Due to these concerns, the NDRC launched guidelines on a rural vitalization strategy, identifying agriculture, farmers, and rural areas as the major bottleneck to achieving the PRC's economic development and environmental restoration goals. Under the rural vitalization strategy, the PRC seeks to modernize agriculture and rural villages through (i) building ecologically livable villages; (ii) improving provision of basic public services (including rural sanitation, solid waste collection, and nonpoint source pollution control); and (iii) improving rural governance. These issues complement and are closely aligned with the goals in the YREB development plan and the focus of the proposed TA cluster, sharing common outcomes for ecological and environmental improvement.

Government strategy. The outline of the YREB development plan was released by the government in September 2016 to guide the future development of the YREB towards the goal of ecological restoration and green development (footnote 1). The outline prescribes environmental improvement targets and water quality in the Yangtze River by 2020, with over 75% of the river water meeting the Class III standard or above, compared with 68% in 2014; and the forest coverage achieving 43.0%, compared with 41.3% in 2014.

ADB strategy. ADB's country partnership strategy for the PRC, 20162020, aligned with the PRC's Thirteenth Five-Year Plan, also supports the government's reform agenda and the YREB targets by focusing on the following strategic priorities: (i) managing climate change and the environment; (ii) promoting regional cooperation and integration; (iii) supporting inclusive economic growth; (iv) fostering knowledge cooperation; and (v) supporting institutional and governance reform.

ADB's framework approach for the Yangtze River Economic Belt. ADB is playing a catalytic role by focusing its limited resources to work together with different YREB stakeholders to develop and promote innovative yet replicable approaches for scaling up in each of the strategically selected priority areas where ADB has institutional advantages. ADB's framework approach supporting the YREB will see an estimated $2.0 billion of support provided during 20182020, extending across one or more provinces or municipalities in the middle and upper reaches of the YREB. The individual projects may be in one or more of the core operational sectors of ADBenvironment, agriculture and natural resources, transport, energy, or urban development.

Strategic priority areas. In line with the core areas identified in the YREB development plan, ADB's current YREB assistance framework focuses on four strategic priority areas: (i) ecosystem restoration, environmental protection, and management of water resources; (ii) green and inclusive industrial transformation; (iii) construction of an integrated multimodal transport corridor; and (iv) institutional strengthening and policy reform. All four priorities will complement each other to support the overall ecological restoration and green development of the YREB.

The proposed TA cluster offers an additional avenue of strategic, yet complementary support to planned ADB lending and non-lending assistance in the YREB. The themes of the four subprojects (Appendix 2) cut across key strategic priority areas consistent with ADB's YREB framework approach, addressing the areas of ecosystem restoration and environmental protection, institutional and policy reform, and capacity building. Eco-compensation particularly has been identified as an important innovative financing mechanism to address both ecosystem restoration and rural poverty reduction in the YREB. ADB is also co-leading with the China Council on International Cooperation for Environment and Development a 2-year Special Policy Study on Eco-compensation and Green Development Institutional Reform in the YREB during 20182019 to create an enabling policy framework for effective implementation of eco-compensation programs.

The executing agencies associated with the subprojects under the proposed TA cluster are closely involved in the key strategic areas under the YREB development plan and the rural vitalization strategy (footnotes 1 and 4). The Guizhou Provincial Government (subproject 1), situated in the upper Yangtze River catchment area, is supporting the project activities which aim to protect and improve ecological and environmental processes critical to achieving the YREB development plan outcomes. The NDRC (subprojects 2 and 3) is a key player in the project activities which support the design and implementation of eco-compensation and related incentive mechanisms that are aligned with ecological protection and environmental improvement outcomes under the YREB development plan and rural vitalization initiatives. The State Forestry and Grasslands Administration (subproject 4) plays a significant role in the PRC's ecological recovery plan.

A TA cluster modality was determined to be the most appropriate means of providing strategic and targeted support for the YREB development plan (footnote 1). Linked subprojects will support a program of activities covering capacity development and the development of enabling policies and regulatory frameworks, with the common objective of supporting the implementation of demonstration projects aligned with targets in the YREB development plan (footnote 1). The TA cluster modality provides the flexibility to support emerging needs through the design of subprojects during the TA implementation. Since the PRC has a TA framework agreement for the YREB and the TA subprojects have been programmed as knowledge and support TA projects, the TA approach is more appropriate because greater knowledge sharing and cooperation can be achieved within the cluster.

Green economic development and ecological protection in the YREB achieved

Design and implementation of eco-compensation and ecosystem protection demonstration projects enhanced

Enabling environment for ecological compensation demonstration strengthened

Capacity on integrating poverty reduction targets into innovative financing mechanisms for ecosystem protection enhanced

Knowledge sharing and dissemination of lessons and findings conducted

All planned activities under the three outputs were delivered.

A total of four consulting firms and two international resource persons were engaged for the four subprojects under the TA cluster, with total consulting inputs of 105.68 person-months, comprising 7 international consultants (15.68 person-months); and 17 national consultants (90 person-months). All four consulting firms and two international resource persons were engaged following ADB's Procurement Policy (2017, as amended from time to time), the Procurement Regulations for ADB Borrowers (2017, as amended from time to time), and the associated project administration instructions and/or staff instructions.

The completion date of the TA cluster was extended once from 31 December 2021 to 31 December 2022, and the TA completion dates of subprojects of the TA cluster were also extended accordingly due to the impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic crisis which resulted in limited fieldwork due to travel restrictions and delays in implementation of planned activities, particularly to finalize, publish, and disseminate the knowledge products which summarized the key findings and lessons of the subprojects.

The consultants and the executing and implementing agencies provided strong support and input for coordination, collaboration, and cooperation with the ADB project teams during the inception, interim, and final review missions; and the capacity-building and/or knowledge sharing activities which were conducted through remote technology.