The Research On Environmental Liability Of Multinational Corporations In China

As the process of globalization speed up gradually, multinational companies,stepping out from behind with its abundant capital, play an important role in theglobalization process. Meanwhile，China has made great achievements in the field offoreign investment. A large number of multinational companies pour into China, whicheffectively promotes the development of Chinese economy, and accelerates the pace ofChina’s economic integration merging into the world. But at the same time,environmental hazard come along with it: pollution brought about by the internationalcompanies transfers to the civil environment. In2011, for example, Conoco Phillips(one of the biggest energy companies all across the United States) cooperating withChina Petroleum on the project of Peng Lai19-3oilfield,(by far the largest offshore oiland gas fields in China’s domestic built) met a disastrous leakage: about115cubicmeters of oil leaked to the surface of the ocean, and there were about400cubic metersof mineral oil-based mud leaked and sunk to the seabed. Consequently, the pollutionintensity reached28.9ton per cubic meter, which greatly surpassed what happened inMexico Gulf in2010. The oil leaking incident caused an unprecedented ecologicalenvironmental disaster for China’s Bo Hai in the history ever with an immeasurableeconomic loss. Shortly after that, many nations and various environmental groupsparticipate actively in studying and exploring how to make multinational companiesundertake their legal responsibility. Unfortunately, there are not enough legislation andcases so far about multinational companies (headquarter or branches) on that issue. Afurther research must be carried out to prohibit its violations under these circumstances.This paper, with the researching methodologies of comparisons or contrasts,exemplifications, documentations and the like, proposes a relatively clear definition ofthe responsibilities that multinational corporations in China must take on the basis oftort liability and the procedures of putting them into practice. And then it studies themain responsibility and the mode of liability of general tort in multinationalcorporations in China theoretically, Furthermore, it points out the existing problemsthrough deep analysis of existing legislation in China, then and through the relevantinternational rules and the foreign legislation, it proposes that the liability subject should be clarified in environmental torts of multinational companies. At the same time theestablishment of the liability insurance system and the liability compensation system ofenvironmental illegal penalty should also be promoted in multinational corporations.