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.
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State Administration for Market Regulation of China issued a WTO/TBT notification on April 8, 2021 on the proposed revision to the mandatory national standard “Minimum Allowable Values of Energy Efficiency …
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On March 26, 2021, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of P.R. China released the “Guidelines for verification of corporate greenhouse gas emission report” (Trial). In order to standardize the …
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On April 1, 2021, the Ministry of Transport of P.R. China released the “Regulations on the administration of road transportation of dangerous goods (Revised draft for comments)” on its homepage. …
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On January 18, 2021, China National Resource Recycling Association(CRRA) released the group standard ” General guidelines for the evaluation of plastic products’ easy-to-collect & easy-to-recycle design” (T/CRRA 0302-2020). The standard …
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On March 30, 2021, one of China’s state-run think tanks, the Xinhua Outlook Research Institute, released its “2021 Annual Survey Report on Trade-in of Home Appliances”. In this report, it …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on March 17, 2021 published a proposed third addition to the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (IECSC), which contains 204 substances, including …
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On March 25, 2021, State Administration for Market Regulation of China released the “2021 National Supervision and Sampling Inspection Plan for Product Quality”. The inspection will focus on consumer products …
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On April 7, 2021, State Administration for Market Regulation of China made a WTO/TBT notification on the proposed revision to the mandatory national standard “Minimum Allowable Values of Energy Efficiency …
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On March 3,2021, the Safety Committee Office of State Council of P.R. China released the “Assessment measures for the production safety accident prevention and implementation of rectification measures” (hereafter refereed …
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Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation released a local standard “Technical specification for grid monitored ambient air particulate matter assessment” (DB11/T 1819-2021) On March 29, 2021. The standard will take …
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On March 31,2021, four administrative agencies, including Ministry of Industry and Information, Ministry of Commerce and etc. of P.R. China jointly released “Notice on implementing new energy vehicles going to …
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The Development and Reform Commission and the Department of Ecology and Environment of Jilin Province, China on April 7, 2021 published the “Main Points of Plastic Pollution Control Measures for …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on March 30, 2021 published the “Provisional Regulations on Carbon Trading Management (revised draft)”. This draft is open for public comments until April 30, …
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On March 19, 2021, the Ministry of Emergency Management and Work Safety Committee of China jointly released two typical crackdown cases of the connection between administrative enforcement of law and …
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The Department of Ecology and Environment of Jiangsu Province, China on March 18, 2021 published information on 10 notable cases of environmental regulation breaches subject to law enforcement and punishment …
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Based on the “Measures on new chemical substance environmental management registration” (Ecology and Environment Order No.12, hereafter as Order No.12), the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will reissue new chemical …
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On February 4, 2021, Shanghai Municipal Government Office announced the “Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Development of New Energy Vehicle Industry in Shanghai (2021-2025) “. The plan clearly outlines the …
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“Pollutant Discharge Permit Management Ordinance” (State Council Decree No. 736) was officially released on January 24, 2021 and came into effect on March 1, 2021.Pollutant discharge unit must apply for …
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On March 12, 2021, Fujian Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, the Department of Public Security and the People’s Procuratorate jointly released the “Guidelines for Handling Environmental Pollution Crime Cases …
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Many customs offices across China reported that they detected paint products exceeding VOC content limits of reviewed national standards (GBs) during inspections from January through March 2021. Here are some …
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Four Chinese government bodies, including the Ministry of Finance on March 22, 2021 published the Circular on Adjustments to the Subsidies for the disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. …
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The Hainan Provincial Development and Reform Commission on March 2, 2021 issued a Circular on Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Construction in 2021 (the “Circular”). It conveys the province’s resolution to …
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The Department of Commerce of Jiangxi Province, China on February 1, 2021 issued the Measures of Jiangxi Province on the Qualification of Scrap Vehicle Recycling and Dismantling Companies (the “Measures”) …
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On March 10, 2021, China’s Alliance of Technology Innovation in Extending Producer Responsibility (EPR Alliance) released the “Notice on the Application for the Second EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) Partner Plan”. …
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On March 1, 2021, Department of Ecology and Environment of Guangdong province released the ” Classification rules of key VOC industries in Guangdong province ” (Draft for comments) and started …
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To fully implement the “Administrative measures for cosmetics registration and filling”, on February 26,2021, the National Medical Products Administration of China released the “Regulations on the management of registration and …
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On March 5, 2021, the People’s Government of Hebei Province released the “Ten measures for deeply implement the comprehensive control of air pollution of Hebei province”. The 10 measures proposed …
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On February 20, 2021, the national compulsory standard “Fuel consumption limits for passenger cars” (GB19578-2021), which developed by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, was released after getting …
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National Standardization Technical Committee for Hydrogen Energy released the “Official Announcement on the Call for Opinions on 3 National Standards, including “Compressed hydrogen dispenser for vehicles” and launched a call …
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China’s National Development and Reform Commission, in cooperation with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, released the following “clean production evaluation indicator …
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On January 25, 2021, China Electronics Standardization Institute released the “Green supply chain management specification for electronics information manufacturing industry” (draft for comments) and its explanation, and started collecting comments. …
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On February, 2021, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment released the “Calculation method for the emission reduction of VOC control projects (trial)”, its outline is as follows. Application …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment and Ministry of Natural Resources on January 28, 2021 jointly issued the Provisional Measures on the Designation of the Person Responsible for Construction Site …
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China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on February 7, 2021 published a Circular concerning the Management of Passenger Vehicle Corporate Average Fuel Consumption and New Energy Vehicle Credits of …
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The Emergency Management Bureau of Nanjing City, China in January 2021 prosecuted a Nanjing-based rubber manufacturer for illegally storing hazardous chemicals and imposed a fine of 3,450,000 yuan (approximately 56 …
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On December 31, 2020, the National Health Commission of China released the “Regulations on the Management of Occupational Health at Workplaces”, which will take effect on February 1, 2021. It …
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On November 26, 2020, the China Occupational Safety and Health Association released a group standard- “Hazard identification, risk assessment and plan of control measures -Guidance”. The standards will come into …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on January 25, 2021 published the National List of Advanced Pollution Control Technologies 2020 (solid waste treatment and soil pollution control technologies) in a …
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China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate on January 2, 2021 published information on cases of past major industrial accidents and accidents caused by professional negligence. One of the cases is presented here …
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On December 24, 2020, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Market Regulation and Administration released a recommended standard “Technical specification for treatment of industrial brine” (DB11/T 1766-2020). The standard will come in …
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On January 29, 2021, the State Council of China released “Regulations on the Administration of Pollutant Discharge Permits”, and the regulation will come into force on March 1, 2021. “Regulations …
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On January 12, 2021, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation released the “Measures for the Administration of Cosmetics Registration and Notification”, which will take effect on May 1, 2021. The …
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In order to implement the requirement of “Opinions of General Office of the State Council on establishing a unified green product standard, certification and identification system” (GFB [2016] No 86) …
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On December 31,2020, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, National Development and Reform Commission of China (Hereinafter abbreviated as the four ministries) …
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On December 21, 2020, the China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment and State Administration for Market Regulation jointly released the “Discharge Standard of Water Pollution for Electronic Industry” and other …
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On December 21, 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China released the following three drafts for comments of national environmental protection standard which stipulate the measurement method of …
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On December 8,2020, the following 3 mandatory national standards (GB), which set air pollutants emission standards, have been newly released. All of them will come into force on January 1, …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the following 3 technical guidelines on December 23, 2020. Technical Guidelines for Environmental and Health Hazard Assessment of Chemical Substances (Trial) Technical Guidelines …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on January 5, 2021 issued the Management Measures on Carbon Emission Trading (trial implementation), which take effect on February 1, 2021. As of November …
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The Beijing Administration for Market Regulation on December 24, 2020 published local standards collectively called Carbon Dioxide Emission Calculation and Reporting Requirements for the following 6+ industries. All the standards …
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The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress on December 26, 2020 approved the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of the Yangtze River (the “Law”) …
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On December 31, 2020, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released a total of 6 recommended national standards (GB/T) related to identification and assessment of environmental damage. They will come …
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China’s Alliance of Technology Innovation in Extending Producer Responsibility released Annual Report on 2020 EPR for EEE industry in China on Dec. 23, 2020. The report describes the progress of …
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China’s General Administration of Customs on December 18, 2020 published the Announcement on Issues concerning Inspection and Supervision of Imported and Exported Hazardous Chemicals and Their Packaging (General Administration of …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on December 25, 2020 issued the Announcement of the Extension of the Pilot Programs for Intensive Collection and Wide-area Transportation of Lead-acid Batteries by …
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The government of China’s Jiangxi province on December 22, 2020 published the Regulations of Jiangxi Province on Soil Pollution Control, which took effect on January 1, 2021. Here is an …
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On November 27, 2020, The People’s Government of Guangdong Province released the revised “Regulations of Guangdong Province on Urban and Rural Municipal Solid Waste Management”. The regulation came into force …
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On November 9,2020, China State Administration for Market Regulation released two revised national standards “Plastic Shopping Bags” (GB/T 21661-2020) and “General Requirement of Degradable Disposable Tableware” (GB/T 18006.3-2020). Both of …
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On December 8, 2020, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced sanctions against new energy vehicle manufacturers that do not meet production conformity requirements. In a bid to promote …
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China’s Ministry of Emergency Management posted several cases of industrial accidents that occurred in chemical industry and hazardous chemical production enterprises on its website on December 9, 2020. There were …
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At the State Council Executive Meeting of China held on December 9, 2020, the “Administrative Regulations on the Pollutant Emission Permit (Draft)” was passed. The draft was released in November, …
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On December 4, 2020, China’s Ministry of Finance published “Government Procurement Law of the People’s Republic of China (Revised Draft for Opinions)” and is opened for public comments. The deadline …
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Ministry of Ecology and Environment of People’s Republic of China released “Interim Measures for the Management of South-South Cooperation Material Assistance Project in Response to Climate Change” on Nov,26 2020. …
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On November 23, 2020, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of People’s Republic of China released the “Regulations on the Approval Procedures for Environmental Impact Assessment Reports (forms) of Construction Projects …
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On November 30, 2020, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the Catalogue of Construction Categories for the Management of Classification-based Environmental Impact Assessment 2021. It takes effect on January …
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On November 25, 2020, the Standing Committee of the State Council of China approved the bill to amend the Production Safety Law, and decided to request the National People’s Congress, …
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China’s Ministry of Commerce and State Taxation Administration announced the revision of the List of Prohibited Products for Processing Trade on November 5, 2020. The revised list will come into …
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On 13 November, 2020, China’s National Medical Products Administration submitted WTO/TBT notifications on Administrative Measures for Cosmetic Labelling (Draft for Comments). This Administrative Measures was enacted in accordance with laws …
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On 13 November 2020, China’s State Administration of Market Supervision submitted WTO/TBT notifications on compulsory national standard “Minimum Allowable Values of the Energy Efficiency and Energy Efficiency Grades for multi-connected …
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On 18 November, 2020, China’s National Medical Products Administration submitted WTO/TBT notifications on three sets of draft regulations for cosmetic products listed below. The comment period for the drafts is …
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November 24, 2020, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Commerce, National Development and Reform Commission, and General Administration of Customs jointly issued the Announcement on Matters concerning the …
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On November 25, 2020, five Chinese government agencies and departments, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, jointly published the National Hazardous Waste List 2021. This revised list takes effect …
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On 16 November, 2020, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment published a revision of the Guidance on New Chemical Substance Environmental Management Registration (Announcement No. 51 of 2020) and relevant …
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On November 6, 2020, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the “Technical Guidelines for Ecological and Environmental Impact Analysis for Economic and Technological Policies (Trial)”. The guideline sets out …
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In the autumn and winter of 2019-2020, the average concentration of PM2.5 was 50%-70% higher than other seasons, and the number of heavy pollution days accounted for more than 95% …
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China Standardization Administration released “Guidelines for enterprises to develop emergency response plan for work place accidents” GB/T 29639-2020 on September 29, 2020. This standard is a revision of the 2013 …
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On 30, Dec 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, and other departments of the …
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On November 6, 2020, State Administration for Market Regulation of China submitted a notification, which is about an enforceable national standard –”Content limitation of mercury, cadmium and lead for zinc …
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China’s State Administration of Market Supervision submitted WTO/TBT notifications on November 6, 2020 on 3 compulsory national standards, including the “Lithium ion cells and batteries used in stationary electronic equipments–Safety …
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On November 2, 2020, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the Management Measures on National Carbon Trading (trial implementation; draft for comments) and Management Measures on Registration, Transactions and …
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Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China released the List of Fifth Batch of Green Manufacturing on October 16, 2020. The list includes 719 green …
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As the only province that implements the pilot project- “Promotion the Consumption of Renewal of Household Appliances by Improving the Waste Household Appliances Recycling and Treatment System”, the government of …
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In October 2020, the Department of Marine Strategic Planning and Economics of the Ministry of Natural Resources released the “2019 National Seawater Report”. The report provides information on seawater utilization …
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On October 27, 2020, “Technology Roadmap 2.0 for Energy-Saving and New Energy Vehicles” was launched at the annual meeting and exhibition of the China Society of Automotive Engineers (China-SAE) in …
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On October 26, 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China released an announcement on matters related to the transition of registration of environmental management …
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The 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) adopted the CPC Central Committee’s Proposals for the Formulation of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social …
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On November 2, 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China published the second List of Priority Chemicals for Regulation. The 18 listed chemical substances are as follows. Number …
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The Ecology and Environment department and Market Supervision and Management Commission of Tianjin, China released a revised regional standard- “Emission Control Standard for Industrial Enterprises Volatile Organic Compounds” (DB12/524-2020) on …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the “Measures on Environmental Management of Hazardous Waste Transfer (revised draft)” on October 23, 2020. The deadline for collecting comments is November 22, …
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On September 18, 2020, Guangdong Province, China released “Guangdong Provincial Measures on Compensation for Ecological and Environmental Damage(Trial)”. The Measures stipulate the work process of the compensation parties, case …
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On October 13, 2020, Ministry of Emergency Management of the Peoples’ Republic of China published “Measures on Hazardous Chemical Enterprises’ Responsibility System for the Safety of Major Hazard Sources (Trial)” …
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On September 28, 2020, in order to implement effective sanctions against discrediting acts in the field of safe production and to improve the current management system for the list of …
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On September 13, 2020, the China National Light Industry Council released the “Guideline for Classification and Label Standard of Biodegradable Plastic Products”, which make a further explanation of the concept …
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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment published six representative cases of illegal activities related to hazardous waste on its official website on 18 September, 2020. In 2020, from July to …
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On September 22, 2020, the State Administration for Market Regulation of China submitted a WTO/TBT notification of a proposed revision to the compulsory National Standard of P.R.C. (GB) called Fuel …
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China’s National Development and Reform Commission released “List of Products Regulated under Water Efficiency Labeling (2nd Batch)” and three related Implementation Rules on October 15, 2020. The three Implementation Rules are …
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On September 29, 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China released three draft for comments of technical guidelines, and began to collect opinions. …
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On September 24, 2020, the government of Zhejiang Province, China issued the Regulation of Zhejiang Province on Water Resources. It will come into force on January 1, 2021. The new …
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Ministry of Ecology and Environment of People’s Republic of China released 5 national environmental protection standards (draft for comments), including “Ambient air and waste gas – Determination of acrylic esters …
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On September 23, 2020, State Administration for Market Regulation of China submitted a notification, the proposed compulsory “National Standard of P.R.C., Specification for the Limitation of Harmful Substances Found …
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