Part IV : Worldwide Experience and World Trend

The EIA Law of the People’s Republic of China has come into force since 1 September 2003, setting out the statutory requirements for EIA of plans and construction projects; and the legal liability in the EIA process.

Under the Ordinance, environmental assessments have to be conducted for land-use planning, regional planning, and certain sectoral plans such as industry, agriculture, energy and transport during their planning stages. Those projects without environmental assessments could no longer obtain authorities’ approval. For projects with significant potential environmental impacts, public comments have to be consolidated with public hearings before submitting environmental assessment reports to the relevant authorities for approval.