Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, on Thursday delivered explanatory remarks on a draft environmental code submitted to the fourth session of the 14th NPC for deliberation.
China's top legislature opened its annual session on Thursday morning at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Party and state leaders attending the opening meeting alongside more than 2,700 NPC deputies. This year's NPC session is scheduled to run till March 12.
The draft environmental code seeks to embed the principle of green development more firmly within the rule-of-law framework by systematically integrating and revising existing environmental legislations.
It comes at a crucial time as China strives to fulfill its pledge of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 at the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
The draft code consists of 1,242 articles across five sections, covering general provisions, pollution control, ecological conservation, green and low-carbon development, as well as legal liability and supplementary provisions.
Once adopted, it will become China's second formal statutory code, after the Civil Code which was adopted in 2020. The compilation of the environmental code was initiated in 2023.
China's draft environmental code submitted to NPC annual session for deliberation
