Evaluating government programs is a relatively new idea for China’s government and policymakers. Many policies and programs continue to be evaluated based on procedural standards rather than on actual performance. This Article investigates how program evaluations and the knowledge they produce find their way into China’s environmental policy. It argues that without procedurally adequate, well-managed evaluation programs, the value of China’s various policy pilots as learning exercises would be greatly reduced, presenting current case studies and explaining patterns in China’s recent environmental policies. This China discourse could help international readers understand program evaluation and its relationship to environmental law, and thus its practical significance in modern climate governance.