China’s New Environmental Protection Law

INTRODUCTION

On January 1, 2015, China will formally begin implementing an updated Environmental Protection Law ("the China EPL"). First promulgated in 1989, this is the first time China's fundamental environmental protection statute has been revised, and, in many ways, it reflects how far China has come in its environmental awareness from 25 years ago. After sacrificing environmental quality in exchange for economic development for the past 30 years, the national government in China is now stating that environmental protection considerations must be incorporated with socioeconomic development plans and that environmental awareness and socioeconomic development will be measured in tandem.