Regulations

Overview

A brief overview of water policy and regulations in China.

Water Policy

China 11th and 12th Five-Year Plan and other policy initiatives in this section.

Litigation

There were 8,179 legal disputes on water related issues between 2008 to 2009. More on “green courts” here.

Regulatory Institutions

This section helps you navigate China’s web of ministries, departments, bureaus and other agencies.

Water Regulation

Find our Index of Key Water and Related Laws, water quality, discharge and emission standards summaries here.

Enforcement

Overall compliance with China’s environmental laws can be as low as 10%. More on enforcement here.

Industry Voices

AGRICULTURE

As China struggles to cope with an increasing mountain of sewage sludge, we see the use of sludge as fertliser being banned … more

POWER

HSBC’s No Water, No Power report asks if there is enough water to fuel China’s aggressive power expansion of 1.5TW by 2030 … more

TEXTILES

Claire Hau tells us why water is important to H&M and how it is pioneering water stewardship in fashion from its work with IPE & WWF to banning hazardous chemicals by 2030 … more

FOOD & BEVERAGE

Will tougher environment laws help allay food contamination concerns? Professor Wang Canfa talks about China’s environmental laws & enforcement … more

METALS & MINING

Given water scarcity in the areas of operation, was there sufficient disclosure in coal washing company’s Winsway’s latest bond offering document? … more

ELECTRONICS

Rising water scarcity will affect the water-intensive electronics sector. Check out WRI’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas tool to map exposure to high risk areas… more