The Chinese government attaches great importance to the formulation of laws and regulations on environmental protection, and has brought the environmental protection work into the legal orbit. Up to now, five special laws on environmental protection and nine natural resources laws related to environmental protection have been promulgated. In addition, the State Council has worked out over 30 administrative laws and regulations on environmental protection. Along with the increase of large construction projects, the Chinese government in 1998 worked out the Regulations on Environmental Protection Management of Construction Projects to further strengthen environmental protection management of construction projects, control new pollution sources and protect the ecological environment.

The Chinese government has strengthened its cooperation with the UN Environment Program, the Global Environmental Facility, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, as well as with the developed countries in North America, Western and Northern Europe and Japan, and the developing nations. In this regard, China has signed a series of international conventions and protocols since 1979, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, Basel Convention on Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (revised version), Framework Convention on Climate Change, Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on Combating Desertification, Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitats, and the 1972 London Convention. China has also worked out the 21st Century Agenda on Environmental Protection, Action Plan for the Conservation of Biodiversity, Action Plan for Forestry in the 21st Century, the 21st Century Marine Agenda, and other important documents, and has performed its obligations.