The paraxylene incident in Dalian,as well as a serial of other similar incidents,highlights the necessity of institutional safeguard to make integrated decisions for economic development and environmental protection. Firstly,economic decision makers must be legally abliged to take into account environmental factors. Secondly,rules of procedure,such as environmental impact assessment (EIA),must be established. Thirdly in terms of institutions,political reform must be deepened and the achievement appraisal system must be perfected to provide internal incentives to the consideration of the environment in economic decision making. Forthly,with respect to public participation,information transparency and public participation serves as the external supervision on environmental considerations in economic decision making.