Issuing authority:

Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China
(No.4)
The Circular Economy Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China, which was adopted at the 4th session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on August 29, 2008, is hereby promulgated and shall come into force on January 1, 2009.
President of the People's Republic of China: Hu Jintao
August 29, 2008
Circular Economy Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China
(adopted at the 4th session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China)

Article 1 This Law is formulated for the purpose of promoting the development of the circular economy, improving the resource utilization efficiency, protecting and improving the environment and realizing sustainable development.

Article 2 The term “circular economy” as mentioned in these Measures is a generic term for the reducing, reusing and recycling activities conducted in the process of production, circulation and consumption.
The term “reducing” as mentioned in these Measures refers to reducing the consumption of resources and the production of wastes in the process of production, circulation and consumption.
The term “reusing” as mentioned in these Measures refers to using wastes as products directly, using wastes after repair, renewal or reproduction or using part or all wastes as components of other products.
The term “recycling” as mentioned in these Measures refers to using wastes as raw materials directly or after regeneration.

Article 3 Developing a circular economy is an important strategy for the economic and social development of the state. It requires making overall plans, making reasonable layouts, adjusting measures to local conditions and focusing on actual effect. The development of a circular economy shall be propelled by the government, led by the market, effected by enterprises and participated in by the public.

Article 4 The development of a circular economy shall follow the principle of giving priority to reduction under the precondition of being technically feasible, economically rational and good for saving resources.
In the process of re-utilizing and recycling wastes, production safety shall be guaranteed so as to ensure that product quality satisfy the state standards and prevent the secondary pollution.

Article 5 The administrative department of circular economy development under the State Council shall take charge of coordinating and supervising the development of the circular economy of the whole nation. The environmental protection department and other competent departments under the State Council shall take charge of the corresponding supervisory and administrative work of the circular economy according to their respective duties and functions.
The administrative department of the development of the circular economy of a local people's government at or above the county level shall take charge of coordinating and supervising the development of the circular economy of the administrative region, while the environmental protection department and other competent departments under the local people's government shall take charge of the corresponding supervisory and administrative work of the circular economy according to their respective duties and functions.

Article 6 The state shall work out industrial policies in accordance with the requirements for the development of a circular economy.
The people's governments at or above the county level shall cover the development of circular economy when working out their national economic and social development plans and annual plans, so shall the relevant departments thereunder when working out environmental protection plans and scientific and technological development plans.

Article 7 The state encourages and supports the research, development and promotion of science and technology relating to circular economy, and encourages the publicity and education of circular economy, the popularization of scientific knowledge about and international cooperation in the development of circular economy.

Article 8 The people's governments at or above the county level shall set up an objective responsibility system for the development of circular economy and take such measures as planning, finance, investment and government procurement to promote the development of circular economy.

Article 9 Enterprises and public institutions shall set up management systems and take measures to reduce the consumption of resources, reduce the production and discharge of wastes and improve the reutilization and recycling level of wastes.

Article 10 Citizens shall enhance their awareness of resources conservation and protecting the environment, consume resources in a reasonable way and save resources.
The state encourages and guides citizens to use products that save energy, water, and materials as well as environment-friendly products and recycled products so as to reduce the production and discharge of wastes.
Citizens have the right to report acts of wasting resources and damaging the environment, and have the right to access to government information about the development of circular economy and propose their opinions and suggestions.

Article 11 The state encourages industrial associations to play the roles of technical guidance and service in the development of circular economy. The people's governments at or above the county level may entrust qualified industrial associations or other social organizations to provide public services which promote the development of circular economy.
The state encourages agencies, societies and other social organizations to engage in the publicity, technical promotion and consultancy service of circular economy so as to promote the development of circular economy.

Chapter II Basic Management Rules

Article 12 The administrative department of circular economy development under the State Council shall work out a national circular economy development plan together with the environmental protection department and other competent departments under the State Council, and put the plan into effect upon the approval of the State Council. The administrative department of circular economy development at or above the level of a districted city shall work out a circular economy development plan for this administrative region together with the environmental protection department and other competent departments at the same level, and put the plan into effect upon the approval of the people's government at the same level.
A circular economy development plan shall cover the objective, scope of application, major contents, major tasks and safeguard measures of the plan, and shall set such indicators as resource output capacity, waste re-utilizing rate and waste recycling rate, etc.

Article 13 A local people's government at or above the county level shall plan and adjust the industrial structure of this administrative region according to the indicators on the discharge of major pollutants, the land used for construction and the total volume of water consumption as assigned by the people's government at the next higher level so as to promote the development of circular economy.
Construction projects shall be built, rebuilt or enlarged in accordance with the requirements of the indicators on the discharge of major pollutants, the land used for construction and the total volume of water consumption of this administrative region.

Article 14 The administrative department of circular economy development under the State Council shall work out a circular economy evaluation indicator system and perfect it together with the statistics department, the environmental protection department and other competent departments under the State Council.
The people's governments at a higher level shall, based on the major evaluation indicators prescribed in the preceding paragraph, make regular evaluations on the efforts made by the people's governments at lower levels for the development of circular economy, and take the accomplishment of the major indicators as a content for evaluating the performance of the local people's governments and the principals thereof.

Article 15 Enterprises producing products or packages listed in the catalogue of articles subject to compulsory recycle must be responsible for recycling deserted products or packages. For those usable, the producers thereof shall be responsible for using them, while for those products which are inappropriate for reutilization due to the absence of technical or economic conditions, the producers shall make them harmless.
For the deserted products or packages as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, if the producers thereof entrust the distributors or other organizations to recycle or entrust waste using or disposing enterprises to use or dispose of them, the entrusted parties shall recycle, use or dispose of them in accordance with the relevant laws, administrative regulations or contractual stipulations.
For products or packages listed in the catalogue of articles subject to compulsory recycle, consumers shall deliver the deserted ones to the producers or the distributors or other organizations entrusted by the producers for recycle.
The catalogue of products and packages subject to compulsory recycle and the administrative measures therefor shall be determined by the administrative department of circular economy development under the State Council.

(To be continued.)

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