China VOC Emission Control System

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%.