Failed It or Nailed It: A Historical-Comparative Analysis of Legislating Bushmeat Ban in China

Abstract

One of the prominent policy responses to COVID-19 by the Chinese government is a recent complete ban on trade and the consumption of wild animals for food use purposes. Despite some discussions and debates in media coverage, the policy has not obtained much scholarly discussion from a public policy perspective. This article aims to fill the research gap by examining the policy formation process of the complete ban. The study conducts a historical-comparative analysis of the three legislative attempts on the bushmeat ban in 2004, 2016, and 2020, applying the multiple streams framework (MSF). We identify six key explanatory factors contributing to the successful formulation of the strictest-ever bushmeat ban. Five corroborate with the problem, policy, and political streams respectively: (i) the existence of an exogenous zoonosis-related crisis as background (problem stream); (ii) the attention and support from the top-level political leaders (political stream); (iii) the national mood (political stream); (iv) proposals from both internal and external policy advisors and experts (policy stream); and (v) feasibility of the proposed solutions (policy stream). The sixth—the role of policy entrepreneurs—serves as a fundamental driving force in shaping and coupling the three streams.