In 2007, eight NGOs including the Friends of Nature, Oxfam Hong Kong, Greenpeace, Action Aid China(AAC), Global Village Beijing, World Wide Fund for Nature China(WWF), Green Earth Volunteers and the Institute of Public and Environmental initiated a project “Chinese Civil Society’s Response to Climate Change: Consensus and Strategies”, aiming to raise the level or awareness and concern about climate change among Chinese civil society, to seek common positions and strategies based on Chinese realities, and to call for common actions to combat climate change.

For 2009 position, shortly before the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, nearly 40 organizations including international organizations’ China offices, came together and delivered this position paper.

The China Environment Yearbook, produced by China's pre-eminent environmental organization Friends of Nature, has established itself as the standard source for on-the-ground civil society perspectives about environmental issues in China. The third English language volume in the series brings readers up to date on the main issues and events in 2007. These include national debates about water and air pollution, the Lake Tai algae crisis, the environmental protests in the city of Xiamen, challenges faced by those planning a “green” Olympics in Beijing for 2008, and the adverse impact of global climate change. The research and analysis contained in the volume depicts the broader patterns of an emerging environmental politics in China - a more assertive and restive citizenry in environmental affairs, the rise of interest groups, and international influences on domestic policy debates. The China Environment Yearbook, Volume 3 is an indispensable source for scholars and policy makers concerned about how China's environmental policies and practices will affect its own future and the future of the earth.

The Engllish version of the book is available for purchase for € 114.00 / US$ 169.00.

A collection of latest publications on the topic “Biological products, made in China” is to be found here:

• Eva Sternfeld’s Organic Food “Made in China”: looking into the development and current status of organic agriculture and organic food industry in China and discusses the prospects and limitations of the sector.

• EU-China Trade Project’s Organic Agriculture in China – Current Situation and Challenges: a project carried out during Autumn 2007, together with the China Organic Food Certification Centre (COFCC), focusing on four key areas: the accreditation of the organic certification bodies, their certification of organic products, the management of organic production and an analysis of the main issues and challenges facing China’s organic agriculture.

• Berit Thomsen’s The Sky’s the Limit in China. How, despite difficulties, the farmers strive for self-sufficiency: analyzing the difficulties farming are facing and strategies they take in striving for self-sufficiency and how the civil social movement gains power.

Original written in Chinese, Fu Dao, editor of the China Development Brief, reviews two books introducing and discussing the civil society development in China of the past 30 years,  namely "30 years of the Chinese Civil Society" by The NGO Research Institute of
Qinghua University and "The 2008 Blue Book on the Development of the Chinese Civil Society" Civil Society Research Centre of Beijing University. 

We have translated this interesting and significant review into English, hoping to bring in more scientific discussion of the movement possible.

Serious violations of national labour laws and internationally concerted social standards are rife in labour-intensive industries – especially in developing and emerging countries but also beyond. Trade unions and NGOs have kept records of these violations for years.

A long run-up - yet only a short leap forward, written by Uwe Kleinert in cooperation with Elisabeth Strohscheidt, aims to present the structural elements and procedures of the ICTI CARE (the code introduced by International Council of Toy Industries in promoting fair labour conditions of the industry) Process and subjects them to a critical analysis. Finally, it sets out the minimum requirements as indispensable prerequisites for an effective, credible and transparent ICTI Care Process.

Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) has recently released a research report Chinese Mining Operations in Katanga Democratic Republic of Congo, presenting the labour and human rights conditions of the Chinese-invested mining sector in the region, aiming to improve conditions for everyone (Congolese and Chinese alike) employed by Chinese companies investing abroad and to support China’s own efforts to set guidelines for and monitor responsible corporate conduct.

The Twelfth EU-China Summit was held in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China on 30 November 2009. Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council attended the meeting on behalf of China. The European Union was represented by the President of the European Council, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden and the President of the European Commission, Mr. José Manuel Barroso. A Joint Statement was released on the same day.