Exploring the Marine Ecological Environment Management in China: Evolution, Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

China’s management of marine ecological environments has experienced a development process that has gone from weak to strong. However, whether there are problems such as lack of systems, invalid systems, and system conflicts in the current management of marine ecological envi-ronments, and how to conduct collaborative governance among various complex subjects, remain to be answered. This paper first summarizes how China’s marine ecological environment management policy has evolved, which can be divided into five stages: the foundation stage (1949–1980), the initial establishment stage (1981–1995), the steady advancement stage (1996–2005), the deepening adjustment stage (2006–2010), and the strategic development stage (2011–present), and analyzes its characteristics at different stages. Then, this paper further explores the inherent dilemmas in the Chinese marine ecological environment management system. Finally, combined with the practical experience of marine ecological environment management in developed countries, this paper fully considers the division of responsibilities and mutual checks and balances of different subjects, flexibly configures various policy tools, and explores the mechanism of collaborative governance of marine ecological environment from the levels of government, market, the public and social organizations, so as to gradually improve the modern marine ecological environment management system and provide a reference for the government’s governance activities.