Annual Review of Chinese Environmental Law Developments: 2018

• Date: 01 June 2019

6-2019 NEWS & ANALYSIS 49 ELR 10547

In China, the year 2018 witnessed important institu-

tional changes for environmental protection and the

development of some major env ironmental legislation.

ese included administrative restructuring; the revi-

sion and adoption of legislation on environmental impact

assessment (EIA), soil pollution, and noise pollution; and

a judicial interpretation on damage to the marine envi-

ronment. is Comment summarizes some of the year’s

major developments.

I. Restructuring of Administrative

Agencies for Environmental Protection

e Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC) approved

a plan to restructure and st reamline commissions and min-

istries under the State Council, the central government of

China, on March 17, 2018.1 is plan streamlined and

restructured institutions for environmental protection at

the national level by establishing new ministries and inte-

grating administrative responsibilities.

A. The New Ministry of Ecology and Environment

China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE)

was established to replace the former Ministry of Environ-

mental Protection (MEP) as the principal administrative

agency for environmental protection at the national level.

1. State Council Institutional Reform Plan, X N A, Mar. 17,

2018, http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2018-03/17/content_5275116.htm.

Compared with the former MEP, the new MEE has much

greater aut horities.

In addition to the responsibilities of the former MEP,

the new MEE also integrated the responsibilities of the

National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)

as to climate change a nd reduction of green house gas emis-

sions; the former Ministry of Land and Natural Resources

as to pollution control of groundwater; the Ministry of

Water Resources as to water function zoning,2 regulation

of pollutant discharges, and protection of the aquatic envi-

ronment of catchments; the former Ministry of Agricul-

ture as to agricultural nonpoint source pollution; the State

Oceanic Administration on the protection of the marine

environment; and the environmental protection responsi-

bilities of the Oce of the Construction Commission for

South-to-North Water Division. e MEE retained the

National Nuclear Safety Administration.3

B. Other Commissions and Ministries With

Environmental Protection Responsibilities

A new Ministry of Natura l Resources (MNR) was estab-

lished primarily on the foundation of the former Ministr y

of Land and Natural Resources. e new MNR also inte-

grated the responsibilities of the NDRC as to the draft ing

of primary function zoning; the zoning responsibilities of

the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction;

the responsibilities of the Ministry of Water Resources as

2. e term “water function zoning” means zoning rivers and lakes into vari-

ous areas allocated for various functions. e water function zoning is re-

quired by Article 32 of the Water Law of the People’s Republic of China,

which was adopted by the NPC Standing Committee on January 21, 1988,

and revised on August 27, 2009, and July 2, 2016, successively. e MWR

issued the Management Rules on Water Funcitons Zones on July 1, 2003,

eective on the same day. is document was replace by the Supervision

and Management Rules on Water Function Zones issued by the MWR on

February 27, 2017, eective as of April 1, 2017. Technical standards were

also adopted for the zoning of water function zones. Since dierent cat-

egories of water function zones correspond with dierent water quality re-

quirements, the water function zoning in eect dierentiates environmental

requirements for surface waters.

3. State Council Institutional Reform Plan, supra note 1.

Annual Review of Chinese

Environmental Law

Developments: 2018

by Mingqing You and Haijing Wang

Mingqing You is a Professor of Law at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China.

Haijing Wang is a Ph.D. candidate of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.

Authors' Note: is Comment is one of the outputs of the

authors’ research project sponsored by the National Social

Science Fund of China (Project No. 15BFX181) and the

Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities

administered by Zhongnan University of Economics and Law

(Project No. 2722019PY001). It is the result of independent

academic research and does not necessarily reect the views of

the authors’ funders or aliations.

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