China: the Ecological and Environmental Code has been in force since 15 August 2026. What did it replace?

China's Ecological and Environmental Code entered into force on 15 August 2026. The National People's Congress adopted it on 12 March 2026 by 2,752 votes in favour, 7 against and 3 abstentions (NPC Observer). According to Science and Technology Daily, before the Code there were more than 30 laws related to ecology and the environment, ten of which were thoroughly revised and incorporated into the Code. The Code has 1,242 articles and is the second statutory code in China after the Civil Code.

What the Code is

The Code consists of five parts: general provisions, pollution prevention and control, ecological protection, green and low-carbon development, and legal liability and supplementary provisions (NPC Observer). Science and Technology Daily lists a separate chapter on responding to climate change, and says of the part on green development that it contains provisions on improving incentives for green consumption and on "developing waste recycling and reuse systems". The entry into force of the Code on 15 August 2026 was confirmed on 24 August 2026 by Science and Technology Daily.

Which laws were repealed

NPC Observer lists ten repealed laws: on environmental protection, on environmental impact assessment, on marine environment protection, on the prevention of air, water and soil pollution, on the prevention of solid waste pollution, on noise, on radioactive pollution and on promoting cleaner production. Science and Technology Daily confirms that the ten laws incorporated into the Code cease to apply from the day it enters into force.

What remains outside the Code

Science and Technology Daily reports that laws on, among other things, river basins, natural resources, biodiversity, the circular economy and energy conservation remain in force, and that their key principles are reflected in the Code. NPC Observer does not list the renewable energy law among the repealed ones; it indicates instead that a draft amendment to it is on the agenda of the NPC Standing Committee for 2–6 November 2026. We did not check how the Code relates to the provisions on support for bioenergy.

The solid waste law

The law on the prevention of solid waste pollution is on the list of ten laws repealed by the Code (NPC Observer). We did not check the text of the Code, so we do not describe which provisions on segregation and kitchen waste were carried over into it.

Significance for organic waste

Because the solid waste law has lost its force, plant operators should check in the text of the Code how article numbers and reporting obligations have changed. One effect is documented: Dialogue Earth (15/04/2026) writes that the Code requires "scientific and precise" organisation and management of straw burning, which experts read as a shift from a relatively blanket ban towards balancing the needs of the environment and farmers.

What this means for Poland and Europe

For technology exporters and companies operating in China, the Code means a need to update compliance matrices, because ten previous environmental laws have ceased to apply and the provisions are now in a new structure.