by Sebastien GOULARD
On August 15, China’s Ecological and Environmental Code (中华人民共和国生态环境法典) entered into force. Adopted in March, the Code is intended to reorganize and supplement the existing body of legislation. It comprises 1,242 articles divided into five books. It is the second code to enter into force in China, after the Civil Code. The decision to adopt the Code was made under the impetus of President Xi Jinping, who, in 2021, called for the codification of several areas of law.
The Origins of the Code
China is not starting from scratch when it comes to environmental protection. As early as 2014, the Environmental Protection Law had been adopted. Environmental protection has become a major focus of Xi Jinping’s presidency. In 2018, the Chinese Communist Party adopted Xi Jinping’s “Thought on Ecological Civilization” as a guiding framework for environmental protection.
Although China had experienced unprecedented development since the 2000s, it also faced ecological disasters involving businesses and local governments. A well-known example is the explosion at a chemical warehouse in Tianjin in August 2015, which killed 173 people and caused significant air pollution.
After reaching a level of economic development that enabled the country to eradicate extreme poverty, China had to contend with growing environmental demands, including large-scale protests. One of the most significant took place in Shifang, Sichuan, in July 2012. Local residents were protesting against the construction of a copper-processing plant. Since then, limited protests have regularly taken place over polluting industrial activities.
The introduction of an environmental code can be seen as a response to environmental concerns among the Chinese population, particularly among younger generations. According to a study by the Sino-German Cooperation on Climate Change, climate change is identified as the most pressing issue requiring action among young Chinese people.
As a result, some of the regulations incorporated into the Code, particularly those concerning financial compensation for residents affected by development projects, stem from a consultation process, a relatively new approach in China.
The Code and Its Content
Before the Code entered into force, Chinese environmental law was relatively fragmented and was based primarily on around a dozen laws dealing with environmental protection and the prevention and control of pollution affecting soil, water and air. These laws were supplemented by hundreds of administrative regulations and standards issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, not to mention the numerous regulations adopted at the local level.
The Code brings these rules together and adopts an ecosystem-based approach, rather than an approach focused on specific forms of pollution, such as soil pollution or waste. The Code is not static: it does not prevent the adoption of new environmental laws, but establishes principles that can be directly applied to future regulations, for example in the area of decarbonization.
The major advance represented by the new Code lies in the shift from legislation focused on pollution prevention and control to a more systemic approach to environmental protection. The third book of the Code therefore addresses issues relating to ecological restoration and compensation.
Another important aspect of the Chinese Ecological and Environmental Code, set out in the fourth book, concerns the development of low-carbon activities. China has set itself the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 and is expected to reach its emissions peak by 2030. The Code provides for greater oversight of companies’ emissions reporting and also strengthens the legal framework governing the emissions trading market.
The new Code is also more comprehensive, as it takes into account new types of pollution, including emerging pollutants, light pollution and electromagnetic radiation. It should therefore enable Chinese legislation to address new environmental challenges.
The Code should also help better organize environmental oversight, from planning to communication, through monitoring and assessment. It is therefore not simply a compilation of existing rules, but rather a comprehensive reorganization of the approach to environmental governance adopted by Chinese authorities.
The fifth book is devoted to legal liabilities arising from environmental violations. One key aspect of the Code concerns the protection of whistleblowers, whose role is now more widely recognized and even encouraged.
A Code with Global Ambitions
The adoption of the Code is consistent with the objectives of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030), unveiled in March, which seeks to promote “high-quality” development. However, the Code can also be viewed as a complementary tool to the “China Standards 2035” strategy, which aims to make Chinese industrial standards new global benchmarks. The new Chinese environmental code should apply to Chinese companies exporting their products and could serve as a source of inspiration for other developing countries seeking, in turn, to legislate on environmental issues. Chinese environmental standards could soon become the standards followed across a significant part of Asia and Africa.
