Environmental Law Codification in China

This book stems from series of research seminars and projects held at leading Chinese law schools and environmental institutes, centered on the development of an Environmental Code for China. Featuring contributions from scholars widely published in top-tier Chinese law journals, it offers a comprehensive and insightful guide to this landmark legal initiative. The book explores the necessity, feasibility, structure, and scope of codification within China’s unique legal and political context. With expert input from legal scholars, judges, and counsellors, the book serves as an authoritative resource for researchers and practitioners in environmental law. ‘This volume captures cutting-edge reflections on China’s Environmental law codification from leading scholars and the Supreme People’s Court of China. Combining environmental legislative practice with comparative insights, it showcases China’s institutional and theoretical innovations. As the first English-language work on this topic, it is an indispensable reference on China’s environmental law reforms. Highly recommended.’ —Tianbao Qin, Professor, Research Institute of Environmental Law (RIEL), Wuhan University, China ‘China has started a huge project. It is not a second Great Wall but a process of codification of environmental law. This extensive and complex legislative project involves the integration of more than 30 existing laws and hundreds, if not thousands, of regulations, rules and judicial interpretations in the broad field of environmental protection. A draft for public consultation was published in the spring of 2025. If adopted, this Environmental Code will regulate environmental protection in the second most populous country in the world. Edited by top experts Dr. Xiaobo Zhao and Prof. Noeleen McNamara (UniSQ) and Prof. Gu Gong and Dr. Kaijie Wu (Peking University), the best Chinese environmental law academics analyse the process that should lead to this Code. A must-read for anyone interested in the development of environmental law in China.’ —Luc Lavrysen, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Law Ghent University, Belgium