The selective centralization in decentralization: China’s environmental vertical management reform with a case study in Hebei province

This article examines why and how China’s environmental vertical management reform has been carried out and how well it helps to improve the implementation of local policies. By applying the theoretical framework of ‘dynamics, strategy, and capacities’ in Hebei province as a case, the changes in the policy process have been fully revealed. The article concludes that the reform shows the character of selective centralization in decentralization, which facilitates the establishment of a degree of standardization in policy implementation. However, a new phenomenon of ‘selective implementation’ has been spotted which severely distorts the actual results of this reform.