[en] The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the Chinese situation as it relates to energy and environment policy. Given the dominance of coal as an energy source and the environmental consequences of its production and use, more attention will be devoted to this fuel than to others. As noted below, however, China has a distinctly modern sector superimposed on a traditional sector that depends on noncommercial or traditional fuels. The intriguing aspect of China's economy is that nationwide trends are all but impossible to detect because of the differences between the commercial and the traditional sectors. Averages are particularly meaningless when it comes to energy and environmental conditions in China