At the national level, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and to some extent also the Ministry of Natural Resources, has regulatory authority over land development activities in China. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has regulatory authority over environmental issues relating to land, buildings and construction activities. These national ministries have their own local bureaus in each province and city to exercise their regulatory powers.
The principal environmental legislation at the national level are as follows:
- The PRC Environmental Protection Law (Revised in 2014)
- The PRC Environmental Impact Assessment Law (Revised in 2018)
- The PRC Environmental Protection Regulations for Construction Projects (Revised in 2017)
- Various national regulations for control of environmental waste disposal
Under national laws and regulations, the main permits for development and construction of real estate projects include the following:
- Land use right certificate / Real estate title certificate
- Project approval or filling with local department of development and reform
- Approval or registration of environment impact assessment report
- Construction land planning permit
- Construction project planning permit
- Construction project commencement permit
Under national laws and regulations, the main permit required for occupying real estate is the construction completion inspection and acceptance recordal form (which signifies that the fire safety inspection acceptance and other statutory inspections have also been completed).
Under certain circumstances stipulated by the law, a current owner of land could be required to carry out an environmental cleanup of the land even if the site contamination was not caused by the current owner.
There are national and local statutory specifications for energy efficiency for new buildings. Old buildings are usually not covered by these statutory requirements. Use of advanced environmentally friendly construction materials and technologies is encouraged in China.
Statutory construction standards in China contain energy conservation and sustainability requirements. Non-compliance with such standards could lead to government sanctions and other legal liabilities. Residential property developers are required to provide home buyers with information relating to the energy consumption levels of the properties.
The Chinese government has introduced a voluntary “green building” rating system. The Chinese government also grants some (albeit not substantial) tax incentives to developers, contractors and suppliers for satisfying the relevant energy conservation standards.