Green building in China: governance and promotion of sustainability

China has built nearly half of the world’s new buildings in recent decades, so China’s green building programs have a profound impact on sustainability on the world scale. Starting in the earlier 2000s, through technological transfers, building code revision, top-down mandates, and state subsidies, China has built the world’s largest green building stock by 2020. This chapter tracks China’s green building approaches through the three most influential technical standards within China - LEED from North America, the domestic rating of Green Stars and, more recently, European-inspired ultralow energy buildings - each exemplifying distinctive promotional strategies, governance structure and market dynamics. This chapter examines the strengths and weaknesses of each standard in terms of the policy, governance structure and outcomes, and also identifies the major limitations and gaps in China’s green building programs. The conclusion draws five key lessons on the roles of policy and governance in promoting sustainability in the built environment.