This paper analyses the institutional constraints on China's transition to sustainability. Through the investigation of the ecological dimension of the sustainability in China, we argue that there is a vacuum of social consensus and public understanding resulting from unbridled meritocracy and that this forms the key barrier to China's transition to sustainability. In our conclusion, we strongly propose a public debate in the form of dialogue among different classes and interest groups in Chinese society to contemplate a substantial paradigm shift from the transition to sustainable development to the transition to sustainability