China's Ecological and Environmental Code was adopted by the National People's Congress on 12 March 2026 and came into force on 15 August 2026. It is China's second formal statutory code after the Civil Code, with 1,242 articles covering pollution control, ecological protection, and green and low-carbon development. China's NDC3.0, announced by President Xi Jinping to the UN Climate Summit on 24 September 2025, sets 2035 targets of a 7 to 10% net-GHG cut from peak, a non-fossil energy share above 30%, 3,600 GW of wind and solar capacity, forest stock growing to 24 billion cubic metres, and an expanded national emissions trading scheme. China's carbon market runs on the State Council's Interim Regulations on Carbon Emissions Trading Management, in force from 1 May 2024, paired with the 2024 relaunch of the China Certified Emission Reduction (CCER) voluntary-offset scheme, capped at 5% of compliance obligations. Both sit under the standing "30-60" pledge, announced by Xi Jinping to the UN General Assembly on 22 September 2020: peak emissions before 2030, carbon neutrality before 2060.
Projects
China Afforestation Portfolio
A multi-province portfolio restoring degraded and desertifying land with native species
Southwest Sichuan Giant Panda Habitat Restoration Forestry Carbon Project
A TNC-Disney partnership restoring fragmented giant panda habitat in Sichuan.
Yunnan Disney Degraded Land Vegetation Restoration Forestry Carbon Project
A TNC-Disney partnership restoring degraded land in Yunnan with native tree species.
Regulation
Held out for Forest / REDD+: Candidate identified; not shown until its primary source is confirmed
Framework law
"China took a major step toward green modernization on Saturday as its landmark Ecological and Environmental Code officially came into force... Adopted by China's top legislature in March, the code is China's second formal statutory code after the Civil Code. The code comprises 1,242 articles in five chapters, covering pollution control, ecological protection, and green and low-carbon development, among other areas... the Ecological and Environmental Code brings together more than 30 laws, 100 administrative regulations, and 1,000 local laws and regulations through systematic integration, compilation, revision, and refinement..."Xinhua wire via China.org.cn (state media), dated 2026-08-16
Issuing body: National People's Congress · Corroborated
NDC
"Xi announced China's new NDCs as follows: China will, by 2035, reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent to 10 percent from peak levels, striving to do better; increase the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to over 30 percent; expand the installed capacity of wind and solar power to over six times the 2020 levels, striving to bring the total to 3,600 gigawatts; scale up the total forest stock volume to over 24 billion cubic meters; make new energy vehicles the mainstream in the sales of new vehicles; expand the National Carbon Emissions Trading Market to cover major high-emission sectors; and basically establish a climate adaptive society."official Chinese government news portal (english.www.gov.cn, Xinhua), dated Sept 25, 2025
China's 2035 NDC: 7–10% net-GHG cut from peak, >30% non-fossil energy share, 3,600 GW wind/solar, forest stock to 24 billion m³, national ETS expansion to major high-emission sectors.
Issuing body: State Council of the People's Republic of China · Corroborated
Carbon market
"On 5 February 2024, the State Council released the 'Interim Regulations on Carbon Emissions Trading Management'... It will take effect starting from 1 May 2024... The State Council of China has released the first national legal framework for carbon market governance."Sino-German Cooperation on Climate Change site
China's first State-Council-level (elevated from ministerial) legal basis for its national ETS; paired with the January 2024 CCER (China Certified Emission Reduction) voluntary-offset scheme relaunch, capped at 5% of compliance obligations.
Issuing body: State Council of the People's Republic of China · Single source
Forest / REDD+
See "Held out" note above.
Net-zero / LTS
"Today in remarks delivered before the United Nations General Assembly, President Xi Jinping made a surprise announcement that China aims to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 and to peak carbon emissions before 2030."WRI statement, dateline "Tue, 09/22/2020"
China's headline "30-60" climate goals (peak before 2030, carbon neutrality before 2060); not yet embodied in a single dedicated statute, but now underpinned by the 2026 Ecological and Environmental Code's climate chapter.
Issuing body: Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China · Single source