Regulation on Ecological Protection Compensation

Regulation on Ecological Protection Compensation


Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China

(No. 779)

The Regulation on Ecological Protection Compensation, as adopted at the 26th executive meeting of the State Council on February 23, 2024, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on June 1, 2024.

Premier: Li Qiang

April 6, 2024

Regulation on Ecological Protection Compensation

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This Regulation is developed in accordance with the relevant laws for the purposes of protecting and improving the ecology and environment, strengthening and regulating ecological protection compensation, mobilizing the enthusiasm of all parties to participate in ecological protection, and promoting the construction of ecological civilization.

Article 2 This Regulation shall apply to ecological protection compensation and relevant activities carried out within the territory of the People's Republic of China and in other sea areas under the jurisdiction thereof. If it is otherwise prescribed in any law or administrative regulation, such provisions shall prevail.

For the purposes of this Regulation, “ecological protection compensation” means the incentive institutional arrangements for offering compensation to entities and individuals engaged in ecological protection in accordance with regulations or agreements through mechanisms such as vertical fiscal compensation, inter-regional horizontal compensation, and market mechanism compensation. Ecological protection compensation may be made in multiple forms such as financial compensation, counterpart cooperation, industrial transfer, talent training, joint construction of parks, and purchase of ecological products and services.

The entities and individuals as mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall include local people's governments at all levels, villagers' committees, urban residents' committees, rural collective economic organizations and their members, as well as other entities and individuals that shall receive compensation.

Article 3 The ecological protection compensation work shall adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the combination of government dominance, social participation, and market regulation, equal emphasis on incentives and restraints, overall planning and coordinated promotion, and the unification of ecological benefits, economic benefits, and social benefits.

Article 4 The people's government at or above the county level shall strengthen the organization and leadership of the ecological protection compensation work, incorporate the ecological protection compensation work into the national economic and social development plan, and establish a stable mechanism for ecological protection compensation fund allocation.

The people's governments at and above the county level may expand the channels for ecological protection compensation funds through various means in accordance with the law.

Article 5 The departments of development and reform, finance, natural resources, ecology and environment, water administration, housing and urban-rural development, agriculture and rural affairs, forestry and grassland, and other departments of the State Council shall be responsible for the ecological protection compensation work according to their respective duties.

Article 6 The local people's government at or above the county level shall establish and improve the relevant mechanism for the ecological protection compensation work and urge their subordinate departments and people's governments at lower levels to carry out the ecological protection compensation work. The relevant departments of a local people's government at or above the county level shall be responsible for the ecological protection compensation work according to their respective duties.

Article 7 Entities and individuals that have made remarkable achievements in the ecological protection compensation work shall be commended and rewarded according to the relevant provisions issued by the state.

Chapter II Vertical Fiscal Compensation

Article 8 The state shall, through fiscal transfer payments or other methods, offer compensation to the entities and individuals engaged in the protection of important ecological and environmental factors, as well as the entities and individuals that carry out ecological protection in major functional ecological zones, red lines of ecological protection, nature reserves, and other areas with important ecological functions delineated in accordance with the law.

Article 9 For entities and individuals engaged in the protection of important ecological and environmental factors, the central finance shall provide compensation according to the following categories (“categorized compensation”):

(1) Forests.

(2) Grasslands.

(3) Wetlands.

(4) Deserts.

(5) Oceans.

(6) Waters.

(7) Cultivated land.

(8) Other important ecological and environmental factors such as aquatic biological resources and terrestrial wild animal and plant resources prescribed by laws, administrative regulations, and the state.

The specific scope and methods of compensation as mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be determined by category by taking into overall consideration the economic and social development level of the region, fiscal capacity, the achievements of ecological protection, and other factors, and be disclosed to the public together with the use of compensation funds and the supervision and administration thereof and other matters in accordance with the law. The specific measures for categorized compensation by the central finance shall be developed by competent authorities of the State Council in conjunction with other relevant departments by field.

Article 10 Based on categorized compensation by the central finance, the relevant l......