Timeline of environmental developments

1995: The Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law is amended.

1996: The National People's Congress passes the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) and the 2010 Long-term Goal, which requires the economic development model to be transformed from "extensive" to "intensive".

2002: The NPC passes the Environmental Impact Assessment Law, while the State Council releases the Regulations on the Conversion of Farmland to Forests.

2006: The NPC passes the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), which requires the government to incorporate environmental protection in every aspect of economic and social development.

2008: The NPC approves the establishment of the Ministry of Environmental Protection (which merged with other ministries and formed the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2018). The NPC also passes the Law on the Promotion of the Circular Economy.

2014: The 22nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is held in Beijing, and the green supply chain is written into the leaders' declaration.

2015: The Ministry of Environmental Protection issues the Technical Guidelines for the Delineation of Ecological Protection Red Lines. The State Oceanic Administration issues the Implementation Plan for the Construction of Marine Ecological Civilization of the State Oceanic Administration (2015-20).

2016: The People's Bank of China, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and seven other ministries and commissions issue the Guidelines for Establishing the Green Financial System. The G20 Hangzhou Summit establishes a green finance research group and produces the G20 Green Finance Synthesis Report. Green finance is included in the agenda of the G20 Hangzhou Summit for the first time. Nine government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, issue the Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Management and Control of Resources, the Environment and Ecological Red Lines.

2018: The State Oceanic Administration issues the National Marine Environmental Protection Plan (2017-20).

2021: The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issue a notice on Green Development Guidelines for Foreign Investment and Cooperation.

The State Council issues the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment and Improvement of the Green and Low-carbon Circular Development Economic Systems.

2022: The National Development and Reform Commission and other departments issue the Implementation Plan for Promoting Green Consumption.