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:

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:

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:

…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 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

Source: By Global Voices