policies in China

. The 13th Five Year Plan

China’s 13th Five-Year (2016–2020) Plan for Economic and Social Development contains strong commitments to improve air quality and control emissions. The Plan describes the country’s clean-air action plan as follows:

We will formulate a plan for ensuring air quality standards in cities are met, strictly enforce obligatory targets, see that cities at and above the prefectural level achieve a 25% reduction in the number of days of heavy air pollution, and channel greater effort into reducing fine particulate matter emissions in key regions. We will establish a monitoring system to ensure that environmental protection standards for vehicles, watercraft, and fuel oil are achieved. We will work to increase the proportion of natural gas users in cities. We will strengthen monitoring of windblown dust from unpaved roads and construction sites and prohibit open straw burning.

The Five-Year Plan commits to reduce emissions, ensure compliance with emissions standards, and promote the use of clean energy:

We will ensure that all industrial polluters meet emissions standards. We will improve emissions standards, strengthen supervisory monitoring of industrial pollution sources, publish a blacklist of enterprises that fail to meet emissions standards, and require such enterprises to make corrections within a stipulated time frame. All heavily polluting enterprises located within urban districts will either be relocated, upgraded, or, in accordance with the law, shut down. We will conduct the second national survey of pollution sources. We will reform the total emissions control system for major pollutants so that more pollutants are covered. . . . We will promote the use of alternative clean energy in urban “villages” and [outskirts], and replace small and medium coal-fired facilities. . . . Chief industries will be transformed to achieve clean production.

III. Laws, Regulations, and Standards

During the past four decades, China has adopted many laws, regulations, and standards adressing environmental protection. Implementation of the environmental protection laws used to be weak, but has becoming increasingly stronger over the past few decades when the severe air pollution has caused huge health damages and social losses.

A. Environmental Protection Law

The Environmental Protection Law is the framework law that provides general provisions regulating all aspects of environmental protection and pollution control. The Environmental Protection Law was first adopted in 1979 on a trial basis, and formally promulgated on December 26, 1989. The Law was most recently revised in 2014, with the revisions taking effect on January 1, 2015

B. Law on Prevention and Control of Air Pollution (Air Law)

After the first passage of the Environmental Protection Law, China passed approximately thirty special laws regulating various areas of environmental protection, approximately ninety administrative regulations, and many more standards. Among them, the Law on Prevention and Control of Air Pollution (Air Law) is the primary law dealing with air pollution, providing comprehensive measures of air pollution prevention and control.

The Air Law was first adopted in 1987 and has been revised several times since then, including a major revision in 2015 that took effect on January 1, 2016.[The revised Air Law sets a specific goal of improving air quality and emphasizes the control of air pollution caused by coal burning, industrial production, motor vehicles and vessels, dust, and agricultural activities. It calls for comprehensive measures to be taken to restrict atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gases, including particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ammonia

https://www.loc.gov/law/help/air-pollution/china.php#_ftn10.