BEIJING: China’s new Ecological and Environmental Code has officially taken effect, creating a unified legal framework for pollution control, ecological protection and green development as the country pushes ahead with its broader environmental and low-carbon transition.
Adopted by China’s top legislature in March, the code contains 1,242 articles across five chapters and is the country’s second formal statutory code after the Civil Code.
The legislation consolidates a wide range of existing environmental rules and is intended to reduce legal fragmentation while giving courts, regulators and local authorities clearer guidance on ecological and resource protection.
More Than 30 Laws Integrated Into One Code
The new code brings together provisions drawn from more than 30 laws, 100 administrative regulations and 1,000 local laws and regulations through a process of integration, revision and refinement.
Qin Tianbao, a professor at Wuhan University, said the code marks a shift from fragmented environmental management toward a more systematic governance model.
Legal experts say the consolidated framework could help resolve overlaps and gaps between existing regulations while making enforcement more consistent.
Xu Xufen, a judge at the Intermediate People’s Court of Huzhou City in Zhejiang Province, said the code provides clearer legal guidance for handling cases involving ecological, environmental and natural resource protection.
China Builds on Recent Environmental Gains
The new legal framework comes after several years of environmental policy measures, including river, lake and forest chief systems and central environmental protection inspections. These mechanisms have now been incorporated into the code.
Official data show that the average PM2.5 concentration in major Chinese cities fell to 28 micrograms per cubic metre in 2025, while the share of days with good air quality reached 89.3 percent, both the best levels recorded since monitoring began.
China’s national forest coverage rate also exceeded 25 percent by the end of 2025, while the country accounted for roughly a quarter of the world’s newly afforested areas since the start of the century, according to official figures.
Green Development Gets Dedicated Legal Chapter
A separate chapter of the code focuses on green and low-carbon development, linking environmental protection more closely with economic and industrial policy.
China has expanded green manufacturing and clean energy capacity in recent years, including more than 8,000 national-level green factories, a large clean power system and the world’s biggest carbon emissions trading market.
The environmental code also supports China’s Beautiful China initiative, which sets long-term goals for cleaner production, improved ecological quality and lower-carbon lifestyles.
In July, the State Council issued a plan for the 2026-2030 period setting out targets and major projects for the next stage of the initiative.
By 2030, China aims to improve ecological and environmental quality, expand green production and lifestyles, and reach its carbon peaking target on schedule.
International Cooperation Included in the Code
The legislation also includes provisions on international environmental cooperation.
It calls for China to strengthen collaboration on ecological protection, meet obligations under international treaties and promote joint efforts on climate change.
Chinese green technologies are already being used abroad, including water-saving agricultural techniques in Egypt and photovoltaic projects in Saudi Arabia.
Experts say the code could also provide a reference point for other countries seeking to integrate pollution control, ecological protection and low-carbon development into a single legal framework.
The Ecological and Environmental Code is expected to play a central role in shaping China’s environmental governance during the 2026-2030 period as the country seeks to align economic development with stronger ecological protections.
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