China's top procuratorate vows high-quality case handling to advance implementation of environmental code

BEIJING -- China's top procuratorate on Saturday pledged to advance implementation of the country's newly effective Ecological and Environmental Code through high-quality case handling, as part of broader efforts to strengthen ecological and environmental governance.

The pledge came on the day the Ecological and Environmental Code, China's second statutory code after the Civil Code, came into force.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said procuratorial authorities nationwide have handled 73,000 ecological and environmental public-interest cases since 2025, including 61,000 administrative and 12,000 civil cases. The cases have helped safeguard the public interest and promote law-based environmental governance.

To facilitate the implementation of the Ecological and Environmental Code, the SPP on Saturday released eight representative cases highlighting procuratorial efforts to protect the ecological environment.

The cases cover air and water pollution control, solid waste management, and the protection of arable land, mineral resources, biodiversity and the marine environment.

The SPP said procuratorial authorities will further improve the quality and consistency of procuratorial public-interest litigation in line with the code, and strengthen coordination between ecological damage compensation and civil public-interest litigation.