Institutional constraints on China's transition to sustainability

This paper analyses the institutional constraints on China's transition to sustainability. Through the investigation of the ecological dimension of the sustainability in China, we argue that there is a vacuum of social consensus and public understanding resulting from unbridled meritocracy and that this forms the key barrier to China's transition to sustainability. In our conclusion, we strongly propose a public debate in the form of dialogue among different classes and interest groups in Chinese society to contemplate a substantial paradigm shift from the transition to sustainable development to the transition to sustainability.