China's first specialized administrative regulation on ecological environment monitoring takes effect

China's new regulation on ecological environment monitoring takes effect on January 1. The regulation, promulgated by a State Council decree signed by Chinese Premier Li Qiang in November, comprises seven chapters and 49 articles aimed at standardizing monitoring, strengthening capacity, and ensuring data quality.

According to Zhang Dawei, head of the ecological environment monitoring department at China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the monitoring services market has seen intensifying low-price competition, with "bad money driving out good."

The regulation introduces institutional measures to guide the sector from disorderly expansion toward high-quality development. It also clarifies classified management for public monitoring and self-monitoring, as well as an integrated supervision approach described as "remote plus on-site plus credit," with stricter accountability that can penalize both organizations and directly responsible individuals, including fines and industry bans in serious cases.  

The regulation encourages the use of non-contact methods, such as remote sensing, in supervision and monitoring to improve efficiency and reduce disruption to normal business operations. Zhang said that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), China is looking to advance satellite constellations and the broader application of unmanned technologies in the national monitoring network to achieve faster, more reliable monitoring and significantly reduce manual work.