China’s Ecological and Environmental Code Is Now in Force: What Should Foreign-Invested Companies Check?

1. The immediate answer

China's Ecological and Environmental Code came into force on 15 August 2026. The first task is to identify every operating activity that depends on an environmental approval, permit, registration or internal control, then test whether the legal basis and the operating evidence remain current. Priority areas include project environmental impact assessment, pollutant discharge permits, monitoring records, waste and chemical controls, environmental incidents and disclosure.

The transition is broader than one statute. State Council Order No. 843 amended 12 administrative regulations and repealed three, while the Ministry of Ecology and Environment withdrew 176 normative documents. Continuing to quote a repealed instrument can produce a false conclusion in a contract warranty, lender questionnaire, licence renewal or regulatory submission.

2. Which cross-border businesses should prioritise review?

The Code is not confined to traditionally heavy-polluting sectors. A foreign-invested manufacturer, R&D or warehousing facility, data-centre project, infrastructure investor, chemical importer or buyer of an industrial site may face material exposure. Overseas parents may also need reliable China data for group audits, finance covenants, customer standards and sustainability reporting.

The level of review should follow the activity, location, project stage, substances and permit status. An overseas services business with no relevant China imports does not have the same risk profile as a factory. Avoid applying one group policy as a substitute for facility-level verification.

• China manufacturing, R&D, warehousing and infrastructure facilities
• Importers, manufacturers and overseas suppliers of new chemical substances
• Foreign investors acquiring a China company, joint venture or industrial asset
• Businesses with discharge permits, hazardous waste or soil and groundwater exposure
• China entities giving environmental assurances to parents, lenders or customers

3. Test permits and approvals against actual operations

An environmental impact approval does not automatically cover later expansion, process changes, capacity increases or different pollutants. A discharge permit is also not proof of continuing compliance. Compare production lines, raw materials, pollutants, discharge outlets and treatment equipment with the approvals, permits, monitoring plan, logs and public disclosures.

Incident governance should be operational. Management should know who can stop production or isolate a release, who reports internally and to regulators, and how monitoring data, photographs, maintenance records and expert reports are preserved. A paper plan that has not been assigned, tested or documented offers limited protection.

• Consistency among EIA documents, acceptance records, permits and actual processes
• Monitoring, operating logs, regulatory submissions and public information
• Hazardous waste and regulated chemical movement, storage and contractor controls
• Incident plans, drills, escalation and evidence preservation
• Penalties, complaints, remediation commitments and historic issues

4. Overseas suppliers of new chemicals: stop relying on the old filing route

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment's transition notice states that the filing of new chemical substances stops from 15 August 2026 and that an applicant must apply for environmental-management registration before manufacture or import. Compliance in another market does not establish China eligibility, and an overseas manufacturer should not assume that the Chinese importer has automatically completed every requirement.

The parties should identify the substance, composition, use and volume; verify inventory status and the applicable registration route; and allocate responsibility for data, testing, advisers, filings and confidential business information. Supply contracts should address shipment holds, notification and liability if registration is incomplete, the use or quantity changes, or submitted information is inaccurate.

• Verify substance name, CAS number, composition, use and annual import volume
• Confirm inventory status, applicant and any China representative arrangement
• Prepare hazard, exposure, use and other registration data
• Set a compliance release gate before order, shipment and import
• Allocate data, cost, change-notification, confidentiality and default risk in contract

5. Upgrade environmental diligence in China transactions

Environmental diligence should go beyond asking whether the target has been fined. Review historical land use, project approvals and acceptance, discharge permits, pollutant and hazardous-waste records, underground tanks, soil and groundwater, third-party disposal vendors, complaints, remediation duties and potential clean-up costs. For leased facilities, distinguish the positions of landlord, operator and former users.

Translate findings into executable conditions: further testing, permit renewal, remediation, escrow, insurance, price adjustment or a specific indemnity. A generic warranty that the target complies with all environmental laws rarely resolves a known condition, historic operation or transition issue.

6. Dates, transition questions and record preservation

The central date is 15 August 2026. Preserve the rules, application status, regulator communications and internal decisions that applied before and after that date. The Supreme People's Court has issued rules on the temporal application of the Code; in a dispute, the date of the conduct, whether it continued, and when its legal consequences arose may matter.

Do not discard former permits, filings or historic monitoring records. They may be essential evidence of the position at the relevant time and of later remediation. Maintain a change register identifying the former rule, current rule, owner, required action, due date and completion evidence.

7. A 30-day implementation plan

A documented gap review can be completed by risk priority within 30 days. An immediate safety or environmental risk should not wait for the end of that cycle.

• Days 1–5: inventory China entities, facilities, projects, permits and chemical substances
• Days 6–10: compare policies and contracts against the Code, Order No. 843 and the withdrawn-document list
• Days 11–15: sample operating evidence for EIA, discharge, monitoring, waste, incidents and disclosure
• Days 16–20: verify new-chemical inventory status, registration ownership, shipment controls and supply terms
• Days 21–25: update environmental provisions in M&A, finance, insurance and customer commitments
• Days 26–30: assign remediation owners, dates, budget, management reporting and follow-up review