Publication

This paper looks into the developments in China's political response to the threat of climate change from the late 1980s until 2004. It employs three explanatory models to identify the factors that have influenced Chinese foreign policymaking on climate change in the past. It further examines how these factors are likely to influence China’s future climate change policy. It argues that, among the explanatory factors discussed, economic interests and the primacy of economic growth seem to be most prominent in guiding the direction of China’s climate change policy.