Certifying China

A comprehensive study of the growth, potential, and limits of transnational eco-certification in China and the implications for other emerging economies.

China has long prioritized economic growth over environmental protection. But in recent years, the country has become a global leader in the fight to save the planet by promoting clean energy, cutting air and water pollution, and developing a system of green finance. In Certifying China, Yixian Sun explores the potential and limits of transnational eco-certification in moving the world’s most populous country toward sustainable consumption and production. He identifies the forces that drive companies from three sectors—seafood, palm oil, and tea—to embrace eco-certification. The success of eco-certification, he says, will depend on the extent to which it wins the support of domestic actors in fast-growing emerging economies.
 
The assumption of eco-certification is that demand along the supply chain can drive businesses to adopt good practices for social, environmental, and economic sustainability by specifying rules for production, third-party verification, and product labeling. Through case studies drawn from extensive fieldwork and mixed methods, Sun traces the processes by which certification programs originating from the Global North were introduced in China and gradually gained traction. He finds that the rise of eco-certification in the Chinese market is mainly driven by state actors, including government-sponsored industry associations, who seek benefits of transnational governance for their own development goals. The book challenges the conventional wisdom that the Chinese state has little interest in supporting transnational governance, offering novel insights into the interaction between state and non-state actors in earth system governance in emerging economies.Series Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xi
List of Abbreviation xv
1 Introduction: Eco-Certification and Emerging Economies 1
2 Between Markets and States: Grounding Transnational Governance in China 27
3 Seafood: The Rise of Eco-Certification Led by a National Industry Association 55
4 Palm Oil: The Entry of the RSPO with Lukewarm State Support 87
5 Tea: Fertile Ground without Seeds for Transnational Eco-Certification 113
6 Conclusion: The Promise and Limits of Transnational Sustainability Governance 145
Appendix A: Field Research and Interviews 177
Appendix B: Data on Seafood Processing Companies 187
Appendix C: Data on Organic Tea Producer Companies 193
Notes 201
References 215
Index 251“An excellent first step in addressing a range of questions about China and supply chain sustainability.”
—The China Quarterly

“A timely and vital contribution to conversations about sustainability inside and outside academia.”
–H-Net Reviews

“Certifying China makes a significant contribution to emerging research on eco-certification and sustainability governance within an emerging economy context.”
—Earth System Governance

“This informative book makes a valuable contribution not only in terms of its rich empirical evidence but also its perceptive theoretical engagement with the political economy of environmental governance, particularly regarding the interaction between international actors and the Chinese state.”
—Environmental Politics“Sun has produced an empirically nuanced, theoretically path-breaking study with profound lessons for improving the effectiveness of global certification systems in ameliorating climate and other environmental challenges.”
—Benjamin Cashore, Li Ka Shing Professor in Public Management, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
 
“Sun’s book provides a much-needed corrective to simplistic narratives that reductively portray China as an environmental laggard.”
—Lena Partzsch, Chair of Environmental Governance, Technische Universitaet Berlin; author of Alternatives to Multilateralism
 
 
“Yixian Sun’s Certifying China makes substantial and innovative contributions to global and comparative research on transnational governance and eco-certification and constitutes the definitive work on these topics in the Chinese context.”
—Stacy D. VanDeveer, Professor and Chair, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance, McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston; coeditor of Changing Climates in North American PoliticsYixian Sun is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in International Development at the University of Bath, UK.