Against the backdrop of the recent (and ongoing) global financial crisis, China's exports shrank sharply. Changes were clearly needed in the country's mode of export-oriented economic growth. As such, in order to ensure eight-percent economic growth in 2009, a series of measures have been taken, including financial investments of some four trillion yuan (USD 585.6 billion), instituting increasingly active credit policies, and stimulating domestic consumption. This latter, however, while critical for the Chinese economy, now seems to be inevitably running directly counter to broader initiatives to curb China's carbon footprint – particularly in international forums, where the issue has reached a frenzied pitch in the run-up to the Copenhagen talks in December.
In 2008, the Chinese government launched 'village appliance' schemes nationwide, offering subsidies in an attempt to boost the sale of televisions, refrigerators, washing machines and mobile phones in rural areas. In 2009, another two billion yuan (nearly USD 300 million) was invested in a 'new-for-old' policy that has seen individuals and businesses sell back old appliances, in turn receiving a 10 percent subsidy on new purchases. In addition, the automobile market is benefiting from subsidies and tax breaks, and many cities have been handing out vouchers to locals. Clearly, China, together with many other countries around the world, is focusing increasing attention on its domestic market, in an attempt to expand domestic demand and increase economic growth. And in stark opposition to what was long the abiding rule in China, consumption and consumerism have become all the craze – as legitimated by the government itself.
The Chinese have never been heavy consumers, either because they did not have the resources or because, given the lack of a welfare system, they were forced to save their money for a rainy day. But three decades of economic growth have given the Chinese citizenry ample material desires; a lifestyle has by now taken root that hopes to keep up with the rich, particularly to keep up with the Americans. Today, as soon as the Chinese people are able to consume, many do so, no less than the citizens of the developed countries do. Yet as mass consumption is being actively encouraged, the hope for a low-carbon lifestyle – with low consumption, low emissions and low pollution – is all the more easily ignored.
Another risk of pushing for increased consumption is the inevitable inflation of consumer expectation. Two recent surveys underscore this point. First, a special feature on a well-known Chinese website recently described white-collar workers as 'killers of the environment'. The white-collar lifestyle involves high levels of consumption, goes the logic, and consumption is the natural enemy of the environment. In a poll on the website, the vast majority of those surveyed said that it is everyone's duty to protect the environment. But despite such seemingly widespread views (at least amongst those with Internet access), what actually takes place on the ground is far different. Starting in the beginning of July, hotels in Changsha, the capital of south-central Hunan province, were no longer supplying items such as disposable toothbrushes and single-use tubes of toothpaste for free; now, guests are being charged a fee for these products. Yet a second survey, taken shortly after the change, found that 77 percent of respondents opposed the move, complaining of inconvenience.