China Green Product Certification

China's Green Product Certification system is the core national framework unifying and standardizing the country's environmental labeling regime. It consolidates certification and labeling schemes that had previously been dispersed across multiple agencies and fields -- environmental protection, energy conservation, water conservation, low-carbon, resource circulation, recycling, and organic -- into a single "green product" framework ("one product category, one standard, one catalogue, one certification, one label"), integrating product certification, environmental performance assessment, resource-efficiency requirements, and eco-design principles. Assessment covers four areas: resource attributes (e.g., use of recycled materials), energy attributes (energy-efficiency rating), environmental attributes (e.g., absence of hazardous substances), and quality attributes, examining a product's environmental impact across its full lifecycle from multiple angles. The system is a voluntary certification program led by the state, not a legal obligation like the ETS or chemical substance registration. There are no compliance risks such as legal penalties, sales bans, or fines for not obtaining certification; companies pursue it voluntarily to qualify for government procurement, participate in environmentally conscious supply chains, and enhance market competitiveness. As of June 2021, more than 60 certification bodies, over 1,000 certified companies, and more than 10,000 certificates had been issued across sectors including home appliances, building materials, furniture, and textiles. The certification catalogue covers building materials, coatings, sanitary ware, paper products, textiles, furniture, plastic products, home appliances, and electronics.