context: After five years of drafting and three readings, the Ecological Environment Code was adopted at the closing meeting of the 2026 Two Sessions in Beijing on 12 March and will take effect on 15 August 2026. Only the second PRC law designated as a code after the Civil Code of the PRC was adopted in 2020, it contains 1,242 articles across five books covering general provisions, pollution control, ecological protection, green and low-carbon development and legal liability. The Code consolidates provisions from around 30 environmental and resource laws, more than 100 administrative regulations and over 1,000 local regulations.
The PRC's Ecological Environment Code is the world's first law explicitly titled a 'Code' covering environmental protection. It represents a moderate codification approach and a rare framework addressing protection and development together, said Lyu Zhongmei 吕忠梅 National People's Congress Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee.
Codification adopts a 'Code+standalone laws' dual-source model, according to Lyu
- all traditional environmental protection laws oriented to pollution prevention and control are absorbed into the Code
- resource and energy laws traditionally classified under economic law (such as the Water Law, Forest Law, Grassland Law, Mineral Resources Law, Energy Law, Energy Conservation Law) will will be incorporated into the Code, while the original laws will remain in force and be revised
- in areas where there are still gaps in legislation (such as climate change, where no standalone framework law yet exists) the Code lays down forward-looking provisions, leaving space for specialised legislation
This structure raises questions of the hierarchy between the Code and existing standalone statutes, so the practical effect of codification will need to be tested in implementation, law scholars point out.
The Code reflects the principle that a healthy environment is the fairest puiblic good and the most inclusive form of public welfare, says Chen Haisong 陈海松 Wuhan University Law School, who participated in the Code's draft process. For example
- the general provisions explicitly state that the Code aims to protect public health and ecological environment rights
- the pollution prevention section is given a prominent position as pollution is the issue most directly affecting people's sense of well-being and security
- the Code provides systematic rules on agricultural and rural pollution control, including more precise regulation of crop residue burning
The Code also features legal provisions for new pollutants, including
- a comprehensive risk-control framework for new pollutants
- coordinated governance mechanisms
- new legal liabilities, with violations for
- producing or importing chemicals listed as priority controlled new pollutants without following risk-control measures
- producing or importing new chemical substances without environmental registration
- failing to comply with registration requirements
- illegally using related products