POLICY NEWS

On 28 April 2025, the Draft of the Ecological and Environmental Code of the People’s Republic of China (hereafter: Environmental Code) was submitted for deliberation to the 15th Session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress [1], marking a pivotal step in the development of China’s legal framework

In January 2025, China’s State Council approved the Implementation Opinions on Building Pioneer Demonstrations for a Beautiful China, setting the stage for integrating high-quality development with ecological protection. Focusing on green and low-carbon growth, biodiversity conservation, and ecological governance, the plan targets key regions like the Yangtze River Delta, Greater Bay Area, and Yellow River Basin. By 2027, these pilot projects will serve as national benchmarks under the Beautiful China Initiative. Closely aligned with the Urban-Act Project, this initiative accelerates climate-resilient urban planning and sustainable development.

By March 2025, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China had approved 40 territorial spatial master plans for provinces, provincial capitals, and municipalities for the period 2021–2035. Among these are the recently endorsed plans for Xi’an and Xiamen, which were selected as low-carbon and climate-resilient pilot cities under the IKI Urban-Act project. These plans lay out a spatial governance framework that integrates ecological, agricultural, and urban spaces, aiming to safeguard national food security and ecological integrity while supporting sustainable urban and regional development over the medium and long term.

On 27 January 2025, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) jointly issued a policy titled “Notice on Deepening the Marketisation Reform of Feed-in Tariffs for New Energy to Promote High-Quality Development of New Energy”. This policy marks a shift in China’s approach to pricing wind and solar power, transitioning from fixed tariffs to a market-based system.

The iron and steel industry faces low-carbon transformation challenges due to its resource- and energy-intensive production processes. Accelerating the integration of the iron and steel industry into the Chinese national emissions trading (China ETS) system is crucial to its green and low-carbon development.

Since the introduction of its carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, China has gradually built up a policy framework for carbon footprint management. On 13 November 2023, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and other departments issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment of a Product Carbon Footprint Management System, which put forward five key tasks, including formulating standards for Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) accounting, strengthening the construction of a database, and establishing a labelling and certification system.