Abstract: Industrial ecology is a promising science that has recently been popularized in Western countries. It follows and develops the theory of natural ecosystem which is used for guiding industrial activities being in risk. There are some similarities and some big differences between industrial ecology and the eco agriculture that is presently advocated in China. After a comparative analysis on the different ideas and practices of industrial ecology between the Western countries and China the strong and weak points of them have been described. 

Key words: industrial ecology, life circle analysis, eco agriculture