The government has gradually increased the proportion of funds of environmental protection in the GDP from 0.72 percent in 1989 to 1.33 percent in 2003. According to statistics of the State Environmental Protection Administration, from 1998 to 2002, a total of 580 billion yuan was invested in environmental protection and ecological construction around the country, which is 1.8 times the total investment in this aspect in the 48 years between 1950 and 1997. In 2003, 136.34 billion yuan was invested in treatment of environmental pollution around China, marking an increase of 23.2 percent from the year before. In the total investment, 78.53 billion yuan was used in construction of environmental infrastructure in urban areas, 18.84 billion yuan in treatment of sources of industrial pollution, and 38.97 billion yuan in environmental protection in new construction projects.

In the 21st century, China's environmental protection industry has grown at an average annual rate of 17 percent, much faster than the growth of national economy in the same period. In 2002, the output value of the national environmental protection industry reached 220 billion yuan, compared to the four billion yuan in 1992. At present, China's environmental protection enterprises are mainly located in more developed areas in the east along the coast and rivers, and among them 6 percent are large enterprises with fixed assets worth more than 50 million yuan.