Plastic bag plan takes effect in China · Global Voices
Kelly Proctor

Starting June 1, the Chinese government's country-wide plan to make shoppers pay small fees for plastic bags, and to forbid the production of ultra-thin bags will take effect. The move should save China 37 million barrels of oil a year. NGOs have been into the act earlier, pushing for relief from the ubiquitous plastic bag — Chinese use over 3 billion such bags every day.
The bag ban has been spreading throughout the world over the past couple years, popping up in places like San Francisco and England, and others. Such a proposal appeared in the southern city of Shenzhen last year, and even earlier in a city in the southwest China province of Yunnan has even tried to control 白色污染 (“white pollution,” or plastic pollution) starting five years ago with such a ban, with favorable
results.
On Chinese-language environmental BBS boards and blogs, news of the plastic bag ban has been a hot topic since it was announced in January. Many netizens are supportive, others concerned; below are some excerpts.
Blogger Liu KenPeng on Sina.com writes:
看到这个消息，真是 BIG FAST PEOPLE HEART（大快人心）啊！
记得在评论人类历史上最糟糕的发明时，塑料袋耻登榜首。这东西最可怕的地方，就是自然界没有办法分解.
When I saw this news, it really was most gratifying!
In discussing the most terrible invention in the history of man, plastic bags are the worst of the worst. This thing's most scary aspect is that it has no way to decompose in nature.
Others seemed nervous about the ban's implementation. One netizen posts on Baidu.com:
这其实是一个很严峻的问题.而且实际实施中必然重重困难.
从消费者的角度来看,增收塑料袋费,对于比较节俭的家庭主妇来说,为了最大限度的得到利益,对一些额外的不必要的物品的消费就自然减少.消费减 少，商场的利益减少，不排除某些无良商家谋私利私自提供免费塑料袋，消费者的了便宜，特别是一些素质不高的人，自然是你不说，我不说，大家心知肚明。所谓 上有政策，下有对策。环保目的最终仍不能实现。
This is a rather serious issue, and the implementation will be difficult.
From the consumer point of view, for housewives, in order to maximize their interest, they will reduce  spending on unnecessary items. It will affect the interest of shopping malls. Some irresponsible businessmen may provide free plastic bags. Consumers, especially those without environmental conscious, will accept that. We have policy on top, but people have their own strategies, and environmental objective still can't be accomplished.
Qianyuyu at Bjelf.com, the online Beijing environmental law forum, writes:
关于购物塑料袋不应该收费,而是应该限制使用!
从六月份开始,消费者在超市购买东西,使用塑料袋商家要开始收费了.这一政策不知道政府经过听证没有.如果开始收费,在这物价非涨的年月,老百姓的消费支出无形当中又增加了.这给老百姓带来的生活压力,不知道政府考虑过汉有.
为什么政府不出一个限制使用的办法,比如,每个购物都只能免费使用一个,想用第二个就是付费了了而动不动就是收费.塑料袋收费不是便宜了商家吗?现在大多数老百姓都是在超市购买生活必须用品.每一个都收费,会给商家带来多少利润.
…should limit the use of plastic bags rather than collecting fee.
Consumers need to pay for the plastic bags in supermarket starting from this June. I wonder if the government had any public hearing on such policy. As the inflation rate has been very serious this year, the fee would add pressure to ordinary citizen. I wonder if the government really thinks this through.
Why doesn't the government adopt a policy to limit the use. For example, everyone can get one free plastic bag and has to pay for the second. The policy of plastic bag fee will only favor the business people. People are buying necessary items in supermarket, with the fee, the business will gain extra profit.
On the Baidu.com BBS, others wondered if the small fee for plastic bags would even make a difference:
1   塑料袋才3毛一个,太便宜了.
基本上不会有什么影响嘛!
2   回复：塑料袋才3毛一个,太便宜了.
馒头1元3个 现在成2个了 你说有没有影响
1 Plastic bags (fees) will only be 3 mao, that's too cheap
Basically there will be no influence!
2 Reply: Plastic bags (fees) will only be 3 mao, that's too cheap
Steamed buns were 1 RMB for three, now it's down to two   Now tell me if that's influenced anyone