China Water & Air Environmental Protection Domain

The Pollutant Discharge Permit Administration Regulation is a national regulatory framework governing China's discharge permit system for stationary pollution sources. Based on State Council Decree No. 736 (an administrative regulation effective March 1, 2021), it comprehensively governs permit application, review, and issuance, discharge monitoring, compliance management, reporting obligations, and administrative enforcement. The system is the foundation of China's pollution prevention regime, integrating air pollutant discharge, water pollutant discharge, and facility-level environmental compliance under a unified permit-based management approach. As of its effective date, more than 2.7 million stationary pollution sources nationwide are covered, classified into three tiers based on pollutant generation volume, discharge volume, and environmental impact: "key management," "simplified management," and "registration management" (registration-management facilities alone account for 2.36 million, or 86.5% of the total). The higher-level laws underlying this regulation (the Environmental Protection Law, the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, and the Solid Waste Law) are all among the ten laws being consolidated into, and repealed by, the Ecological and Environmental Code effective August 15, 2026. The regulation itself (an administrative regulation enacted by the State Council) will not automatically lapse, but after the Code takes effect its references to higher-level laws are likely to shift to the Code, and this should be monitored on an ongoing basis. The regulation aims to unify management of total discharge volumes and environmental compliance for stationary pollution sources, establish a unified pollution-source management system centered on discharge permits, clarify companies' primary responsibility for environmental management, and improve the transparency and effectiveness of administrative enforcement. It covers stationary pollution sources (factories, business establishments, etc.) that discharge pollutants, classified as: (1) key management -- facilities with high pollutant generation/discharge volumes and significant environmental impact; (2) simplified management -- facilities with moderate pollutant generation/discharge volumes and relatively minor environmental impact; and (3) registration management -- facilities with minimal pollutant generation/discharge and negligible impact (no permit required, online registration only). Key requirements include: prior authorization (companies must apply for and obtain a discharge permit online before actual discharge or operation begins); self-monitoring (regular measurement of discharge volume and concentration, with records retained, including installation of automated monitoring equipment and online connection where required); management ledgers (records of discharge activities, operation of pollution control equipment, and chemical raw material usage); and periodic reporting (regular submission and public disclosure of discharge permit compliance reports, annual and quarterly).

China's VOC Emission Control System is a national regulatory framework governing the prevention and control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from industrial activities. Its core component is GB 37822-2019, the "Fugitive Emission Control Standard for Volatile Organic Compounds," China's first standard dedicated to fugitive VOC emissions, which comprehensively regulates emissions from VOC material storage and transfer, process operations, leaks from equipment and piping components, and open-surface fugitive emissions. Its legal basis is the Environmental Protection Law and the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law, placing it under the jurisdiction of facility-based air pollutant emissions management. VOC content in products (such as the in-vehicle cabin VOC concentration standard GB/T 27630) is treated separately, as part of "product-embedded chemical substance management," which falls under chemical substance regulation rather than facility-emissions regulation. Although both use the term "VOC," they are distinct regulatory regimes covering different subjects -- facility emissions versus substances embedded in products -- and should not be confused. The standard aims to minimize fugitive VOC emissions (leaks, evaporation, etc.) from industrial facilities, reduce ozone pollution and PM2.5 caused by volatile organic compounds, and promote effective air pollution control by setting collection and treatment efficiency requirements. It applies to all industrial facilities that use, store, or transfer VOC-containing materials such as organic solvents, adhesives, coatings, and cleaning agents (particularly in the chemical, pharmaceutical, printing, coating, and adhesive-use industries); certain enclosure requirements are exempted below a threshold where the organic solvent content of a product or raw material is under 10%.

The Yangtze River Protection Law is China's first comprehensive river-basin legislation, providing an integrated legal framework for ecological conservation, pollution prevention, resource management, biodiversity protection, and sustainable development across the Yangtze River basin. Rather than regulating a single environmental issue, it coordinates environmental governance across multiple sectors and administrative jurisdictions, supporting long-term ecological restoration and sustainable economic development in one of China's most important industrial and economic regions. The law is founded on the principles of "ecological priority and green development" and "joint major conservation, not major development," and Article 3 explicitly states that ecological environmental protection and restoration activities in the Yangtze River basin must comply with this law on a priority basis -- a provision establishing the law's status as a special law taking precedence over general laws such as the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, a feature unique to the Yangtze River Protection Law among China's environmental laws. Even after the Ecological and Environmental Code takes effect (August 15, 2026), this law will not be repealed and will continue to exist as an independent special law. While the Code incorporates the law's core principles into its ecological protection chapter, the law itself remains in force under the "moderate codification" model that allows certain laws to coexist with the Code. The law aims to accelerate the protection and restoration of the ecological environment in the Yangtze River basin, ensure the rational and sustainable use of water resources, conserve biodiversity and maintain ecological security, and promote green, high-quality economic and social development across the basin. It applies to all companies and individuals conducting business activities, development, or water resource use in the Yangtze River basin (specific administrative areas including the Yangtze's main stream, tributaries, and lake catchment areas), with particularly strict regulation of the chemical, heavy industry, fishing and shipping, and agricultural sectors.

The Yellow River Protection Law is China's river-basin protection law enacted to conserve the ecosystem of the Yellow River basin, promote the rational use of water resources, prevent water pollution, and achieve high-quality regional development. Effective April 1, 2023, it follows the Yangtze River Protection Law (effective March 2021) -- China's first national river-basin protection law -- as a comprehensive environmental law covering a major river basin. The law integrates water resource management, water quality conservation, ecosystem protection, soil erosion control, and regulation of highly polluting industries to pursue sustainable development in the Yellow River basin. Even after the Ecological and Environmental Code takes effect on August 15, 2026, this law will remain in force independently and will not be repealed, since the Code adopts a "moderate codification" model under which only the core principles of laws such as the Yangtze and Yellow River Protection Laws are reflected in its ecological protection chapter. The law aims to conserve the ecosystem of the Yellow River basin, protect and efficiently use water resources, prevent water pollution, control soil erosion and desertification, and balance regional economic development with environmental conservation; it also serves as the basic law underpinning the national strategy for "ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin." It applies to manufacturers, chemical plants, mining and resource-development operators, energy companies, heavy water users, and wastewater dischargers operating in the Yellow River basin; local governments implement region-specific management measures based on national systems, tailored to basin characteristics. Key areas include: water quality conservation (compliance with discharge standards, water pollution prevention measures); rational use of water resources (installation of water-saving equipment, proper management of water intake volumes); ecosystem protection (ecological impact assessment and conservation measures for development projects); and management of highly polluting, high-emission industries (strict review and siting restrictions).

China's Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law and the national industrial wastewater discharge standards (GB standards) are among the most strictly and rigorously enforced environmental regulations in China. They set maximum permissible limits for chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen and phosphorus, heavy metals (such as cadmium and chromium), and pH value in industrial wastewater discharged from manufacturing plants into public waters or sewer systems. In recent years, a "continuous daily penalty" system has been applied, under which fines accumulate daily until a violation is corrected, and in severe cases this can lead directly to operational suspension or criminal detention of the company's representative.

China's Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law is one of China's fundamental environmental laws, aimed at preventing and improving air pollution, protecting public health, and improving the ecological environment. It covers stationary sources such as coal-fired power plants, steel mills, chemical plants, and cement plants, as well as mobile sources such as motor vehicles, and comprehensively governs air pollutant emission controls, emission standards, monitoring systems, and administrative enforcement. In recent years its scope has expanded beyond PM2.5 control to reducing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulfur oxides (SOx), and to addressing ozone pollution, positioning it as the core law of China's air-quality policy. This law will be repealed on August 15, 2026, with its content fully consolidated into the Ecological and Environmental Code. It aims to prevent air pollution, protect public health, improve the ecological environment, continuously reduce emissions, and promote the transition to green industry, and it also serves as the basic law underpinning national air-quality improvement policies such as the "Blue Sky Protection Campaign." It applies to manufacturing, chemical plants, steel mills, cement plants, power plants, automotive manufacturers, VOC-emitting facilities, and operators of boilers and combustion equipment; local governments may set emission standards stricter than the national standard based on regional circumstances. Key areas include: air pollutant emission control (compliance with statutory and national emission standards, GB standards); emissions monitoring (measurement, continuous monitoring, data retention, and administrative reporting for facilities above a certain scale); VOC emission control (emission suppression, recovery equipment, leak management, and process improvements); and emergency response (production restrictions, operational suspension, and emission-reduction orders issued by local governments during severe air pollution events).

China's Ecological and Environmental Code, formally passed and completed at the National People's Congress in March 2026, takes effect on August 15, 2026. It consolidates China's individual environmental laws (covering water, air, solid waste, soil, and other areas) into a single unified code that serves as the standardized legal basis for environmental assessments, environmental audits, and administrative penalties. It is only the second "code" ever compiled in Chinese history, following the Civil Code (2020). The Code's defining feature is its adoption of a "moderate codification (dual legal source)" compilation model. Existing environmental laws are handled in two distinct ways: (1) Laws fully consolidated and repealed (10 laws): the Environmental Protection Law, the Environmental Impact Assessment Law, the Cleaner Production Promotion Law, the Marine Environmental Protection Law, the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the Solid Waste Law, the Noise Pollution Prevention and Control Law, and the Radioactive Pollution Prevention and Control Law -- all ten of these laws are repealed simultaneously with the Code's entry into force, with their content fully incorporated into the Code. (2) Laws reflected only in summary, remaining independently in force: the Yangtze River Protection Law, the Yellow River Protection Law, the Water Law, and the Water and Soil Conservation Law -- for these basin-specific and other individual special laws, only their core principles are reflected in the relevant chapters of the Code, while the laws themselves remain in force as independent special statutes alongside the Code even after it takes effect. The Ecological and Environmental Code embodies, in legal form, China's policy philosophy of integrating environmental protection into national development strategy. Rather than operating individual regulations in isolation, it aims to unify national strategy, industrial policy, environmental regulation, and local enforcement to drive long-term green transformation. Its distinguishing features are that it organizes environmental governance as a whole into a single code rather than a patchwork of separate statutes, and that it applies two distinct compilation approaches -- full consolidation and summary reflection -- as appropriate. The Code comprehensively covers the following regulatory areas: climate change and carbon management; chemical substance management and management of new pollutants; water quality and air pollution prevention; solid waste management; the circular economy; ecological protection (including basin protection for the Yangtze, Yellow River, and other rivers); environmental information disclosure; and administrative enforcement and environmental liability.

The Regulations on the Administration of Priority Air Pollutant Emissions form a comprehensive regulatory framework aimed at controlling air pollutant emissions from priority industries in China. It covers high-load industries such as iron and steel, power generation, cement, and petrochemicals, with its main pillars being tighter discharge permit requirements, the establishment of real-time monitoring systems, and an emissions-allowance trading mechanism. The regulation is positioned as a key policy tool supporting China's achievement of its "dual carbon" goals, requiring companies to build sophisticated emissions management systems and comply with regular, transparent reporting obligations. Violations carry strict administrative penalties, including suspension of operations, making thorough compliance across the entire supply chain essential.