Impacts of Financial Globalization on Environmental Sustainability of Economic Development Path: A Case Study of China

Terms of reference

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question: How has financial globalization (including recent changes in the magnitude and composition of financial flows to China, as well as resulting changes in the roles and importance of various public and private sector institutions) directly and indirectly changed the context for influencing the environmental character of China’s development?

Specifically, the author was asked:

• to identify and describe briefly the most significant changes in international financial flows affecting China, with emphasis on changes since 1990;

• to identify and describe two or three recent events or trends that illuminate the significance of those changes for the environmental sustainability of China’s economic development path, and the changing political or institutional context for influencing that path; and

• to analyze the implications of this changing institutional and environmental landscape for domestic and international public interest groups seeking to promote environmentally sustainable development in China.