To implement the requirements of the "Law on Promoting the Circular Economy" and the "Opinions on Accelerating the Advancement of Ecological Civilization Construction," and to scientifically assess the development status of the circular economy, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the National Bureau of Statistics recently issued the "Evaluation Indicator System for Circular Economy Development (2017 Edition)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Indicator System"). Officials from the Department of Environmental Resources of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Energy Division of the National Bureau of Statistics were interviewed by reporters on this issue.

　　Q: What is the significance of developing an evaluation indicator system for the circular economy?

　　Answer: Developing a circular economy is a major strategic initiative for China’s economic and social development. It serves as the primary pathway for accelerating the transformation of the economic development model, building an ecological civilization, and promoting green development. At the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a strategic plan was laid out for building an ecological civilization, calling for vigorous promotion of green development, circular development, and low-carbon development. The Outline of the 13th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development stipulates that we should “vigorously develop the circular economy,” “implement a leading plan for circular development, promote circular production methods, and build an industrial system that is green, low-carbon, and circular.”

　　The development of a circular economy involves a wide range of sectors and is highly comprehensive. To scientifically evaluate the progress and effectiveness of circular economy development, it is essential to establish a scientific, rational, and highly operational set of evaluation indicators for the circular economy. The Circular Economy Promotion Law explicitly requires that the comprehensive management department for circular economy development under the State Council, together with relevant departments such as those responsible for statistics and environmental protection under the State Council, establish and improve an evaluation indicator system for the circular economy. Moreover, the law stipulates that higher-level people's governments shall regularly assess the status of circular economy development in lower-level governments based on key evaluation indicators, and the achievement of these key indicators shall be incorporated into the assessment and evaluation of local people's governments and their leading officials. The Opinions on Accelerating the Advancement of Ecological Civilization issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council also call for the establishment of a statistical indicator system for the circular economy. To implement these requirements, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics, together with relevant departments, have developed this indicator system.

　　Q: Could you please explain how this set of indicators was developed?

　　Answer: The development of the “Indicator System” went through a rigorous, scientifically-based decision-making process. First, we strengthened preliminary research. In 2015, we commissioned the Institute for Circular Economy at Tsinghua University to conduct preliminary research, analyzing relevant evaluation indicator systems both domestically and internationally and putting forward corresponding suggestions and recommendations. Second, we carried out survey research and inter-departmental coordination. In the first half of 2016, we organized relevant experts and industry associations to hold in-depth discussions and put forward a preliminary draft. We then sought opinions from several departments, including the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Ministry of Agriculture. We also entrusted Zhejiang Province to conduct pilot calculations for some of the indicators. Third, we selected certain regions to carry out pilot calculations, ensuring the operational feasibility of the indicator system. In the second half of 2016, we solicited feedback on the indicator system from Jiangsu Province and Shandong Province and conducted pilot calculations in cities such as Nanjing, Nantong, Yangzhou, and Weifang. Based on the feedback received from various regions, we made further revisions to the indicator system.

　　Q: Could you please tell us what are the similarities and differences between the newly revised indicator system and the original one?

　　Answer: In 2007, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with the former General Administration of Environmental Protection and the National Bureau of Statistics, issued the “Evaluation Indicator System for the Circular Economy” (NDRC Environmental Resources [2007] No. 1815), which played an important role in promoting the evaluation of circular economy development at both the macro and industrial park levels and has been indispensable in guiding localities to carry out circular economy practices.

　　Over the past decade, as the practice of the circular economy has deepened, its scope has continued to expand. In particular, the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China identified green, circular, and low-carbon development as the fundamental path for building an ecological civilization, thereby setting new and higher requirements for the circular economy. It is therefore necessary to revise the evaluation indicator system in light of the latest requirements for ecological civilization construction and in alignment with the practical needs of developing a circular economy. The revised indicator system now features more refined specific evaluation indicators, adjusted scopes of application for these indicators, and clearly defined methods for data collection and calculation.

　　Q: Could you please explain the relationship between this indicator system and the green development indicator system?

　　Answer: Recently, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the “Measures for Evaluating and Assessing Goals for Ecological Civilization Construction,” while the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments released the “Green Development Indicator System” and the “Assessment Target System for Ecological Civilization Construction.” These documents are an important component of establishing and improving the national governance system for ecological civilization construction, serving as both “indicators” and “guiding benchmarks” to urge and guide regions in advancing ecological civilization development. Developing a circular economy is a key pathway to achieving green, circular, and low-carbon development; therefore, these two indicator systems are both interconnected and distinct.

　　First, both indicator systems are designed to build an ecological civilization and achieve the strategic task of the “Five-in-One” overall layout. The green development indicator system comprehensively reflects the essential connotations of the new concept of green development and systematically embodies the specific requirements for ecological civilization construction. Moreover, developing a circular economy is an intrinsic and organic component of building an ecological civilization. Therefore, the ultimate goals of these two indicator systems are consistent.

　　Second, the two indicator systems differ in their starting points and emphases. The green development indicator system emphasizes that mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, and wetlands constitute a unified community of life, focusing on key issues such as resource utilization, environmental governance, environmental quality, ecological conservation, growth quality, green lifestyles, and public satisfaction. In contrast, the circular economy evaluation indicator system places greater emphasis on the modes of resource utilization, primarily examining the level of resource recycling across various sectors. It can be said that the circular economy indicator system represents a more specific and detailed refinement of the resource recycling component within the green development indicator system. Consequently, some indicators are shared between the two systems—for example, resource productivity and the comprehensive utilization rate of general industrial solid waste.

　　Third, the two indicator systems differ in their hierarchical effectiveness and evaluation methodologies. The green development evaluation is primarily designed to assess the green development status of various regions in alignment with the performance assessment framework for ecological civilization construction goals. It adopts a methodology that links annual evaluations with five-year assessments. The annual evaluations mainly involve calculating a green development index for each region, which comprehensively reflects the overall progress of green development in those regions. The overall green development index is calculated using a composite index method, and the evaluation results will be incorporated into the scoring system for assessing the achievement of ecological civilization construction goals. This represents the highest-level evaluation and assessment within the field of ecological civilization construction. In contrast, the circular economy development evaluation system relies more on self-assessment and third-party evaluations, primarily to help localities identify their own weak points and pinpoint key areas for improvement. Of course, the central government will also conduct independent evaluations at the provincial level, and the resulting assessment findings will serve as an important reference for future support of local circular economy development and for evaluating the overall state of circular economy development.

　　Q: Could you please tell us about the structure of the newly revised indicator system?

　　Answer: From a structural perspective, this indicator system is divided into comprehensive indicators, specific indicators, and reference indicators. The comprehensive indicators include “Primary Resource Output Rate” and “Primary Waste Recycling Rate,” which primarily reflect the levels of resource utilization and resource circulation. The specific indicators comprise 11 detailed metrics, broadly categorized into resource output efficiency indicators, resource recycling (integrated utilization) indicators, and resource circulation industry indicators. The reference indicators mainly consist of end-of-pipe treatment and disposal metrics for waste, used primarily to describe the final discharge volumes of industrial solid waste, industrial wastewater, municipal solid waste, and pollutants. These reference indicators are not used as evaluation metrics.

　　In the selection of specific indicators, the resource productivity indicators are primarily assessed from the perspectives of energy resources, water resources, and construction land use, including: energy output rate, water resource output rate, and construction land output rate.

　　The selection of indicators for resource recycling (integrated utilization) takes into account agriculture, industry, and urban production and living sectors. In the agricultural sector, the focus is on examining major types of waste, including the comprehensive utilization rate of crop straw. In the industrial sector, the emphasis is on the treatment of industrial solid waste and water recycling, with indicators such as the comprehensive utilization rate of general industrial solid waste and the rate of reused water in industrial enterprises above a designated size. In the urban sector, the focus is on the recovery of renewable resources, the treatment of typical urban wastes, and the resource utilization of urban wastewater, with indicators including the recovery rate of major renewable resources, the resource utilization rate of urban food and kitchen waste, the resource utilization rate of urban construction waste, and the utilization rate of urban reclaimed water.

　　The indicators for the resource circulation industry are primarily assessed from the perspective of industrial scale, including the total output value indicator for the resource recycling industry.

　　Q: Could you please tell us what the scope of application for this indicator system is?

　　Answer: The revised indicator system applies to two levels—national and provincial.

　　At the city and county levels, given the varying degrees of economic development and differences in local resource endowments across regions, no uniform evaluation indicators have been established for the indicator system. However, each provincial-level entity should, based on the principles of this indicator system, develop its own set of circular economy evaluation indicators tailored to the city and county levels within its jurisdiction.

　　At the park and enterprise levels, given the differences in resource utilization methods and industrial structures among various industrial parks and industry enterprises, it is recommended that each park and enterprise develop its own circular economy evaluation indicator system tailored to its specific characteristics, focusing on aspects such as reducing energy and resource consumption, and utilizing waste generated during processes and at the end-of-life stage.

　　Q: Could you please explain how the specific indicators in this indicator system are calculated?

　　Answer: The indicators selected for this round have, as far as possible, adopted mature indicators that already exist within current statistical frameworks and coverage. Based on the pilot programs conducted in various regions, most of these indicators have a solid statistical foundation. For some newly added indicators, the indicator system also provides detailed explanations, including specific calculation methods and data sources.

　　First, regarding the methodology for calculating the regional primary resource productivity rate: The National Bureau of Statistics has developed a reference template for statistical compilation of physical resource consumption at the provincial level. Meanwhile, the National Development and Reform Commission and other relevant departments have organized experts to formulate a methodology for calculating the regional resource productivity rate at the provincial level. Both the reference template and the methodology will be promptly posted on the websites of the National Bureau of Statistics and the National Development and Reform Commission for pilot use by various regions.

　　Second, the methodology for calculating the recycling rate of major urban waste. This indicator is a weighted index derived by assigning weights to five individual indicators: the comprehensive utilization rate of general industrial solid waste, the comprehensive utilization rate of crop straw, the recovery rate of major secondary resources, the resource-based treatment rate of municipal kitchen and food waste, and the resource-based treatment rate of municipal construction waste. It must be calculated after obtaining the above-mentioned indicators.

　　Third, some data require estimation, such as the amounts of major renewable resources discarded in various regions, the generation of kitchen and food waste, and the production of construction waste. These data are primarily estimates, and the national authorities will also provide corresponding calculation methods. If local areas lack appropriate statistical standards, they may adjust these methods based on their local conditions before using them.

　　Q: How will this set of indicator system be put into practice?

　　Answer: The Circular Economy Promotion Law explicitly requires that higher-level people's governments conduct regular assessments of the circular economy development status of lower-level governments based on key evaluation indicators, and incorporate the achievement of these key evaluation indicators into the assessment and evaluation criteria for local people's governments and their responsible officials. Therefore, this indicator system is primarily intended for use by various regions in conducting self-assessments and peer evaluations. By monitoring changes in these indicators, regions can identify weak links in their circular economy development, pinpoint breakthroughs for their next steps, and determine their future development directions.

　　In addition, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics, together with relevant departments, will commission third-party institutions to conduct independent assessments of the level of circular economy development in each province. The assessment results will serve as an important reference for future applications for related funding and policy support, and will be made public to the society.