The Environmental Protection Law at China’s environmental legislative system
China’s system of environmental legislation is established based on the Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China that was enacted in 1989. Under this law, other separate laws have been enacted for controlling pollution. Some of these laws are as follows:
China updated the Environmental Protection Law in 2015. This was the first major revisions. The revised law includes stricter punishments on polluters. It also allows non-governmental organizations to file environmental lawsuits against violators. The National People’s Congress revised other laws, including the Law on the Prevention and control of Air Pollution in 2018 and the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in 2017. The Congress also adopted the Law on the Prevention and Control of Soil Pollution on August 31, 2018.
Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution was enacted in 1987 and amended in 1995, 2000, 2015 and 2018. This Law is formulated in order to prevent and control atmospheric pollution, protect and improve people’s environment and the ecological environment, safeguard human health, and promote the sustainable development of economy and society. The concentration of the discharged pollutants may not exceed the standards prescribed by the State and local authorities. The quality standards for products containing volatile organic compounds, such as coal, petroleum coke, biomass fuel, and coatings, fireworks and firecrackers, boilers, etc., are developed and the atmospheric environment protection requirements are specified.
The environmental legislative framework to protect the air pollution is as follows.
Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution
Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution is formulated in order to prevent and control water pollution, protecting and improving the environment, and safeguarding the safety of drinking water.
The environmental legislative framework to protect the water pollution is as follows.
Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste is the national primary law governing municipal and industrial waste management. This law lays out basic requirements for solid waste disposal for industrial facilities. It requires the specified facilities to get approval from the local environmental protection bureau for waste disposal plans prior to construction. The bureaus are also responsible for issuing permits for the collection, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste.
The environmental legislative framework on waste management is as follows.
Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste
Industrial chemicals are mainly regulated by the following regulations in China:
“Decree of the State Council No 591 Regulations on Safe Management of Hazardous Chemicals”
“Order of the Ministry of Environmental Protection No. 7 Environmental Management of New Chemical Substances”
Pursuant to article 15 of the Decree No 591, manufacturers of hazardous chemicals shall provide safety data sheet on the hazardous chemicals that are produced, post or affix a chemical safety label on the package. The contents in safety data sheet and chemical safety labels should meet the requirements of relevant national standards. The relevant standards in China are as follows:
On April 29, 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China (MEE) issued the final Measures on Registrations of New Chemical Substances for Environmental Management under Ministry Order No. 12. The new Measures replaces the current 2010 version and comes into force on January 1, 2021, when the Order No.7 will be repealed.
Same as the current version, the new Measures require manufacturers and importers to register new chemical substances with MEE before placing the new chemical substances on the Chinese market. They also introduce a notification process for new uses of existing listed substances.
Law on the Safety of Hazardous Chemicals (Revision draft for solicitation of comments)
In order to strengthen the safety management of hazardous chemicals, prevent and reduce hazardous chemical accidents, the Ministry of Emergency Management organized the consultation on the draft of the “Law on the Safety of Hazardous Chemicals”, which had been open to the public comments until 1 November, 2020. If approved, it will replace Decree No. 591.
The draft law is applicable to the safety management of the production, storage, use, operation, transportation and disposal of hazardous chemicals. It consists of 11 chapters (Article 137), and based on the lessons learned from the explosion accident, “Safety of hazardous chemical disposal” etc. was added to clarify the responsibility for safety supervision of the disposal (Disposal safety). The State implements a hazardous chemical registration system.
Framework of EHS laws and regulations in China.
China
China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on June 2 released draft standards called the Guidance for Establishing Soil Clean-up Level on Construction Land (trial implementation) to solicit public comments, which …
China
On May 20, the Chaozhou Building Sanitary Ceramics Industry Association released association standards for smart toilets called “Smart Water Closets” (T/CBCSIA 1-2022), which will come into effect on Aug. 1. …
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On May 11, 2022, the Emergency Management Agency of Jiaxing city, Zhejiang province, China published a WeChat post regarding a case of a company violating hazardous chemical registration and management …
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The Department of Ecology and Environment of China’s Hebei province issued emission trading rules called the Interim Measures of Hebei Province on Emission Trading on May 11, 2022, and the …
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On May 11, the Department of Ecology and Environment of China’s Guangdong province published the first compilation of examples of comprehensive volatile organic compound (VOC) control efforts in industries that …
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China’s Hainan province April 27 announced a plastic pollution control action plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025). With the aim of tackling plastic pollution in earnest, the province …
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On May 11, China’s Ministry of Transport released on its website a draft revision of the Provisions on Safety Oversight of Dangerous Goods Transportation by Ship to solicit public comments, …
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On May 24, the General Office of the State Council of China announced an Action Plan on Controlling New Pollutants. As its objectives, the plan aims by 2025 to screen …
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On the April 27, 2022, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China released totally 13 national environmental standards – “Self-monitoring technological guidelines for pollution sources” for electronics industry and …
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On April 10, 2022, the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality announced the “Transportation development and construction plan in the 14th Five-Year-Plan period (2021~2025)”. In the Plan, five strategic objectives, such …
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China’s National Registration Centre for Chemicals (NRCC) May 5 publishes notes on important points that should be checked by companies which register hazardous chemicals. These notes list the following seven …
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On April 27, the Department of Ecology and Environment of southern China’s Guangdong province announced a program for soil and groundwater contamination control in the province for the 14th Five-Year …
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On May 12, the 15th International Conference on EPR Principle Recycling of WEEE (2022) was held at two venues in China’s Beijing and Qingdao city, respectively. In the conference, the …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on April 15 released three sets of national ecological and environmental standards called “Water quality—Determination of 6 phthalate esters (PAEs) —Liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass …
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China’s State Administration for Market Regulation on April 15 released national recommended standards called “Quality safety of household electrical appliances—Guidelines for monitoring and evaluation in the manufacturing process”, which will …
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China’s Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration on May 11 released a revised, more detailed version of the explanatory statement clarifying how to declare the components of hazardous mixtures transported by ship …
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On March 22, China’s Certification and Accreditation Administration issued two new sets of green product certification implementation rules for refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines and for tires, respectively, as …
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On March 10, China’s National Medical Products Administration published on its website answers to FAQs about cosmetics management, such as where to keep samples of imported cosmetics. Three of the …
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The China Household Electrical Appliances Association on April 18 released association standards called “Safe service life for household electrical appliances Part 7: Household drinking water purifier”, which came into effect …
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On March 25, China’s National Development and Reform Commission hosted an online conference on the implementation of the country’s “end-of-life home appliance collection targets and responsibility system”. In the conference, …
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On March 31, 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China jointly released the “Implementing opinions on …
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On March 23, 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration of China jointly announced the “Medium and long-term plan for the development of hydrogen energy …
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On March 18, the Municipal Administration for Market Regulation of Haikou city, Hainan province, China released information on 10 law enforcement actions against violations of plastic product regulations. According to the …
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On March 10, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management released on its website a National Program to Enhance Production Safety of Hazardous Chemicals during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The program …
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On March 9, 2022, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation and Standardization Administration jointly issued recommended national standards “Remanufacturing—Evaluation Indexes and Calculation Methods of Energy Saving and Emission Reduction” (GB/T …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued “Guiding Opinions on Stepping up Law Enforcement and Oversight of Pollutant Discharge Permits” on March 29, 2022. The “Guiding Opinions” contain measures to …
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On March 31, China’s National Institutes for Food and Drug Control published on its website a draft revised version of the country’s Safety and Technical Standards for Cosmetics. The institutes …
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On April 1, the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau issued a revised version of the city’s mandatory local standards called the Limit Standards of Volatile Organic Compounds of Architectural …
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On March 15, 2022, the National Standardization Administration of the P.R.C. released the “Safety specifications of special work in hazardous chemicals enterprises” (GB 30871-2022) (referred as 2022 Version Standard hereafter). …
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On April 6, 2022, the Department of Ecology and Environment of Guangdong Province released the “Measures on management of trading for inclusive carbon emission reduction”. The Measures will come into …
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The congress of China’s Fujian province on March 30 issued regulations on ecological and environmental protection, which will come into effect on May 1. The new regulations are a total …
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The congress of China’s Jiangsu province on April 6 issued regulations on soil pollution control, which will come into effect on Sept. 1. To protect the public, these regulations will …
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On March 16, 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation of China released the “2022 action plan for key industrial products quality and safety inspection”. According to the plan, manufactures …
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On December 31, 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of the P.R.C (SAC) jointly released the “Water reuse guidelines-water quality management for water reclamation plants” …
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On March 14, 2022, the Electrical and Electronic Product Pollution Control Standardization Group of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other bodies held an online conference and released …
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On March 3, 2022, the China Electronics Standardization Institute announced a solicitation for opinions regarding the RoHS-related industry standard “Measurement of seven phthalates used in electrical and electronic devices: High-performance …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on March 7 released its “opinions on strengthening regulations on heavy metal pollution”. The opinions require the designation of key regulated areas, substances and …
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China’s State Council on Dec. 30 announced a national emergency system development program for the 14th Five-Year Plan that will implement stricter regulations on production safety and hazardous chemicals. The …
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China’s Ministry of Emergency Management on March 18 released four sets of draft industrial standards, including one called the General Principles of Safety Assessment, to solicit public comments, which will …
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On February 11, 2022, the China Industrial Energy Conservation and Cleaner Production Association promulgated a organization standard that establishes the Green Design Product Evaluation Technical Code and Quality Control Requirements …
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On March 14, 2022, the RoHS Administrative Measure on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products Operating Group of the Ministry of Industry and Information of China held …
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On March 2, 2022, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released a list of 18 substances in the “List of Existing Chemical Substances.” The 18 substances will be managed as …
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On March 11, 2022, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management published a draft for soliciting opinions on the “Measures for the Management of Sudden Accident Emergency Response Plans” and began accepting …
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According to information dated February 22, 2022 from China’s Ministry of Emergency Management, China’s Hebei and Jiangsu provinces announced their hazardous chemical safety management plans in February 2022, clearly outlining …
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On February 24, 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China released a draft amendment of GB 21027-2020 “General requirements for safety of students’ …
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On Dec. 27, 2021, the Shandong Quality Inspection Association of China’s Shandong Province released a set of standards called the “Technical specification for eco-degradable plastic resins and products” (T/SDAQI 048-2021), …
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The standards’ product evaluation system uses two layers of attributes that are called “Class I indicators” and “Class II indicators”, respectively. The Class I indicators consists of the resources, energy, …
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On March 5, 2022, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China released a notification of starting to collect information of the domestic production, usage, import/export, alternatives of “Perfluorohexane sulfonic …
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The General Administration of Customs of China has issued a decision (Decree No. 257 of the General Administration of Customs) on the repeal of certain departmental regulations on March 1, …
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On Feb. 3, the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other two government bodies of China issued the Guidelines on the Transformation and Upgrading …
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On Dec. 22, 2021, the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences released standards called “Terms of carbon dioxide capture, utilization and storage (CCUS)” (T/CSES 41-2021), which came into effect on Jan. …
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On February 9, 2022, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment released the “Notice on Carrying Out Special Law-enforcement Inspection of Wastewater Discharge in the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries”. …
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On February 15, 2022, the People’s Government of Hunan Province released the “Plan for the implementation of ‘The Yangtze River Protection Law’ in Hunan Province”, and clarified relevant measures to …
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On January 12, 2022, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) held a press conference on the development status of domestic automotive industry. The press conference was attended by …
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On December 31, 2021, The State Administration for Market Regulation and Standardization Administration of China jointly released a recommended national standard – “Evaluation of the energy performance of lighting systems …
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State Administration of Market Regulation of China released a recommended national standard- “Evaluation of energy performance of motor system (GB/T 41013-2021)” on December 31, 2021. The standard, which stipulates evaluation …
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China’s Ministry of Emergency Management on Feb. 16 announced the launch of the Hazardous Chemical Registration Comprehensive Service System (https://whpdj.mem.gov.cn). Companies can start using this new system by logging in …
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China’s Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration on Feb. 8 issued an explanatory statement clarifying how to declare the components of hazardous mixtures transported by ship in the Port of Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao …
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China’s National Medical Products Administration on Jan. 7 issued standards for quality management in cosmetics manufacturing. These standards have been developed in accordance with the Regulations on Cosmetics Oversight, the …
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On December 31, 2021, the Tianjin Ecology and Environment Bureau and Tianjin Development and Reform Commission jointly released the “Action plan for plastic pollution control in the ‘14th five-year plan’ …
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On Jan. 28, 2022, the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment of China’s Jiangsu Province announced a plan to develop zero-waste cities across the province. According to a zero-waste city …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Jan. 18, 2022, released a draft circular on a plan to promote digital transformation in hazardous waste environmental management to solicit public comments, …
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On December 22, 2021, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the “Guidelines for Screening of Priority Assessment Chemical Substances” (HJ1229-2021). The guidelines came into effect on January 1, 2022. …
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On January 12, 2022, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management released the “Regulations for Control of Major Illegal Loss of Trust in Safe Production” (draft opinion solicitation) on its website, and …
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On December 29, 2021, the China Paper Association issued the standard “Water-based Coated Paper Cups.” The standard came into effect on January 1, 2022. In recent years, the Chinese government …
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On December 21, 2021, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the National Ecology and Environment Standard “Technical Guidelines for Industrial VOC Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR)” (“the guidelines”). The …
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On December 21, 2021, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China released the “Measures on the Management of Environmental Information Disclosure for Companies.” The regulation will come into force …
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On Dec. 24, China’s six government bodies, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Ecology and Environment, jointly announced a plan …
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On Dec. 22, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the 2021 list of advanced technologies for air pollution, noise and vibration control. It is part of a larger national …
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On December 30, 2021, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced violations such as false reporting of automated monitoring data by major emitters of pollutants. In 2021, local ecology and …
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On December 22, 2021, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released on its website a list of 11 chemicals it will add to the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in …
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On Dec. 31, 2021, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued preliminary guidelines for record keeping of general industrial solid waste by waste generating companies, which became effective immediately. The …
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On Dec. 21, 2021, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued a circular on the implementation of the pollutant discharge permit system for industrial solid waste. Here is an overview …
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On December 31, 2021, China’s Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs released the 2022 edition “Inventory for Import Permit Management Goods” (Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of …
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On December 14, 2021, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) released a draft on the “Regulations on the Management of Safety Information Codes for Hazardous Chemicals (Trial)” and began soliciting …
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On December 27, 2021, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment published 10 major cases on ecological and environmental damage compensation on its official website. According to “Ecological and Environmental Damage …
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NOTE: On Oct. 30, 2022, China officially issued the Yellow River Protection Law, which will come into effect April 1, 2023. See more details below: China issues Yellow River Protection …
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On December 2, 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China announced the “Plan to Revise Industry Standards for Special Projects to Achieve Peak …
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On December 1, 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China promulgated the revised GB 34914-2021 “Minimum allowable value of water efficiency and water efficiency …
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On Dec. 20, 2021, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released standards for waste paper processing companies, along with the application form and other relevant forms and documents, which …
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On Dec. 22, 2021, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management released a draft of preliminary guidelines for safety risk management in hazardous chemical production facility construction projects to solicit public comments, …
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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic compounds involved in atmospheric photochemical reactions, including non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC, such as alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatic hydrocarbons, etc.), oxygenated organic compounds (aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, …
China
On December 24, 2021, the NPC Standing Committee promulgated the revised Law of the People’s Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Environmental Noise Pollution. The revised law will …
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On December 13, 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Water Resources and State Administration for Market Regulation jointly released the “List of Products Regulated under Water Efficiency …
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On November 13, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China released six “Self-Monitoring Technical Guidelines for Pollution Sources” below . These guidelines will come into force on January 1,2022. …
China
On November 15, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced a green industrial development program for the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The program sets targets for 2025 in carbon …
China
On November 26, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation released recommended national standards called the “Biodegradable drinking straws” (GB/T 41008-2021). These standards will come into effect on June 1, 2022. …
China
On November 26, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation released recommended national standards called the “Degradability and identification requirements of biodegradable plastics and products” (GB/T 41010-2021). These standards will come …
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November 22, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released draft “opinions” on tighter measures against heavy metal pollution. The ministry solicited public comments about them through December 3. The main …
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On December 2, to properly enforce the Solid Waste Environmental Pollution Control Law, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released a list of six solid waste types that are excluded …
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On December 2, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released on its website a list of 11 chemicals it plans to add to the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in …
China
Hazardous waste is defined as waste that has one or more risks, such as toxicity, corrosiveness, flammability, reactivity, and infectivity, and can have harmful impacts on ecological environment and human …
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On November 15, 2021, the China Electronics Standardization Institute released the draft of industry standard “Guide for setting the types and threshold of volatile organic compounds with restriction emission from …
China
On November 22, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and State Administration for Market Regulation jointly announced a plan to improve the energy efficiency of electric motors during the …
China
On November 8, the Provincial Development and Reform Commission and other five government bodies of China’s Zhejiang Province announced a plan to develop the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle industry in …
China
On October 11, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation issued a revised version of mandatory national standards (GB standards) called the “Minimum allowable values of the energy efficiency and energy …
China
On October 11, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation issued a revised version of mandatory national standards (GB standards) called the “Minimum allowable values of energy efficiency and energy efficiency …
China
China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on November 23 released a draft list of recommended HCFC alternative chemicals to solicit comments, which will be accepted until December 31. The list …
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On October 25, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment published on its website a new list of ozone depleting substances regulated in China for import and export. This list has …
China
On October 28, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and other four government departments jointly released a plan to promote a water conservation society during the 14th Five-Year Plan period …
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