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• In order to promote sustainable economic, social, and environmental development, steadily advance the construction of China's sustainable disclosure standard system and standardize the disclosure of sustainable development information by enterprises, the Ministry of Finance, in conjunction with nine other ministries, has formulated the Guidelines for Corporate Sustainable Disclosure - Basic Guidelines (Trial).
• The EU Regulation on Prohibiting Products Made with Forced Labour on the Union Market prohibits the sale, import, and export of goods manufactured using forced labour in the EU market, covering all industries and stages of the supply chain.
• The newly amended National Catalogue of Hazardous Wastes (2025 Edition) has been jointly gazetted by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Transport and National Health Commission, replacing the National Catalogue of Hazardous Wastes (2021 Edition).
• The General Rules for Designing the Production Facilities in accordance with Safety and Health Requirements further improves the safety and hygiene design standards of production facilities, making another important step in China’s production safety and environmental protection.
• To cope with complex and diverse operational risks and standardize professional and effective protective equipment, the National Emergency Management Department has issued the Specification for Safety Management of Personal Protective Equipment (AQ 6111-2023).
• The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has issued the Notice on Average Monthly Working Hours of Workers and Calculation Method for Wages, stating that there have been changes in the average monthly working hours for employees throughout the year.
• In order to implement the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on the Implementation of Progressively Raising the Retirement Age, embody the principle of voluntariness and flexibility, effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of employees, and promote the development and utilization of human resources, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Central Organization Department, and the Ministry of Finance formulated and issued the Interim Measures for the Implementation of the Flexible Retirement System.
• Updated Minimum Wage Standard of Chongqing Municipality, Xinjiang, and Shanxi Province. 

Comprehensive

< Guidelines for Corporate Sustainable Disclosure - Basic Guidelines (Trial) >

< EU - Regulation on Prohibiting Products Made with Forced Labour on the Union Market >

Environment

< National Catalogue of Hazardous Wastes (2025 Edition) >

Health and Safety

< General Rules for Designing the Production Facilities in accordance with Safety and Health Requirements >

< Specification for Safety Management of Personal Protective Equipment >

Labour

< Notice on Average Monthly Working Hours of Workers and Calculation Method for Wages >

< Interim Measures for the Implementation of the Flexible Retirement System >

Minimum Wage Standard Update

Chongqing Municipality, Xinjiang, and Shanxi Province

Comprehensive

1. < Guidelines for Corporate Sustainable Disclosure - Basic Guidelines (Trial) > (2024-11-17)

The Ministry of Finance, together with nine other ministries issued the Guidelines for Corporate Sustainable Disclosure - Basic Guidelines (Trial) (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines) on 17^th November 2024.

The Guidelines consist of six chapters and 31 articles, mainly providing requirements for the basic concepts, principles, methods, objectives, and general commonalities of sustainable disclosure by enterprises.

All enterprises can follow the Guidelines to make disclosure and issue compliance statements. However, the implementation of the Guidelines will not adopt a "one size fits all" mandatory implementation requirement, but will adopt a strategy of distinguishing key areas, piloting first, gradually and step by step, expanding from listed companies to non-listed companies, from large enterprises to small and medium-sized enterprises, from qualitative requirements to quantitative requirements, and from voluntary disclosure to mandatory disclosure.

The Guidelines emphasize the correlation between sustainable information and financial information and provide clear requirements for the quality of sustainable information disclosure. The core elements of disclosure are consistent with the ISSB international standards.

For enterprises, the release of the Guidelines provides a unified set of basic requirements for sustainable disclosure system at the top-level, which helps them to carry out sustainable capacity building with reference, carry out sustainable information disclosure, and gradually improve the quality of sustainable disclosure.

2. < EU - Regulation on Prohibiting Products Made with Forced Labour on the Union Market > (2024-12-13)

On 19^th November 2024, the Council of the European Union finally adopted the Regulation on Prohibiting Products Made with Forced Labour on the Union Market (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation), which prohibits the sale, import, and export of goods manufactured using forced labour in the EU market. The Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 12^th December 2024, and came into effect the next day. It will apply three years after its effective date.

“Forced labour” refers to forced or compulsory labour as defined in Article 2 of International Labour Organization Convention No. 29, including forced labour of children.

The Regulation applies to all products produced using forced labour, involving all industry sectors. The 'products produced using forced labour' refer to products that are all or partially produced using forced labour at any stage of product mining, harvesting, production, or manufacturing, including at any stage of the product supply chain, in the work or processing related to the product.

The Regulation explicitly prohibits any products containing forced labour from entering the EU market, regardless of whether these products involve forced labour in raw material extraction, harvesting, production, or manufacturing processes. This requirement imposes a higher compliance threshold on companies planning to export to the European market. Specifically, enterprises need to comprehensively evaluate the entire industry chain to ensure that there are no links involving 'forced labour', including the operations of direct and indirect suppliers.

Enterprises that do not meet these requirements will face the direct risk of their products being banned from entering the EU market, as well as the resulting damage to their brand reputation. Meanwhile, products that have already entered the European market and do not meet the requirements will also face the risk of being withdrawn. At the same time, non-compliant enterprises will also be required to bear the cost of disposing of affected products.

Currently, in addition to the European Union and the United States (UFLPA), other countries and regions are also planning to introduce similar measures to restrict forced labour in the context of globalization. Therefore, even if the enterprise does not directly or indirectly enter the EU market, it needs to be prepared to adapt to a stricter global trade compliance environment.

Environment

< National Catalogue of Hazardous Wastes (2025 Edition) > (2025-01-01)

The National Catalogue of Hazardous Wastes (2025 Edition) (hereinafter referred the Catalogue 2025) has been jointly gazetted by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Transport and National Health Commission on 26^th November 2024 and it has come into force since 1^st January 2025. The previous National Catalogue of Hazardous Wastes (2021 Edition) (hereinafter referred the Catalogue 2021) was abolished on the same date. The main updated contents in new catalogue are as below:

1. Main text part
   • Article 6, paragraph 2, has been amended to improve the classification management of hazardous waste after identification. The Catalogue 2025 provides that hazardous waste should first be classified according to its main harmful components and hazardous characteristics by referencing the existing waste codes in this catalogue; only when it is indeed impossible to classify it according to the existing waste codes should it be classified and managed under the code "900-000-××" (where ×× represents the hazardous waste category code), based on its waste category.
2. Attached table part
   • The Catalogue 2025 includes a total of 470 types of hazardous waste, an increase of 3 types compared to the Catalogue 2021. Among these, based on hazardous waste production processes and management practices, 2 waste codes have been consolidated and 1 waste code has been split. Additionally, 4 types of tin smelting waste that commonly possess hazardous characteristics have been newly included. Furthermore, the wording or hazardous characteristic descriptions of individual hazardous wastes have been amended, and 6 new notes have been added.
3. Appendix part
   • Based on the results of environmental risk research on hazardous waste and environmental management practices across regions, two exemption provisions have been removed. The explanation of "exemption conditions" has been newly supplemented with "they shall still comply with relevant ecological and environmental laws, regulations, and standards for solid waste management, etc.," and the wording of exemption conditions for some hazardous wastes has been amended.

Health and Safety

1. < General Rules for Designing the Production Facilities in accordance with Safety and Health Requirements > (2025-01-01)

The General Rules for Designing the Production Facilities in according with Safety and Health Equipment (GB5083-2023) (hereinafter referred to as the General Rules) were jointly issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Standards Committee on 28^th December 2023, and will come into effect on 1^st January 2025; This General Rules replaces the original General Rules for Designing the Production Facilities in accordance with Safety and Health Requirements (GB5083-1999). The relevant revisions are as follows:

1. The General Rules have added requirements for safety risks throughout the entire lifecycle, and production equipment (including components) should have mechanical properties, stability, and reliability that meet product safety performance. When manufacturing, transporting, storing, installing, using, and dismantling according to the prescribed conditions, no harm should be caused to personnel.
2. The General Rules have added requirements for starting and stopping the production equipment, which shall be started under specified conditions through the starting device of the control system. The stopping device and starting device should be distinguished in color or marking. The stop control of production equipment should take priority over the start control.
3. The General Rules have changed the requirements for fire and explosion prevention. Production equipment that produces, uses, processes, stores, or transports flammable and explosive media (including dust, wastewater, exhaust gas, or hazardous waste that may cause fires or explosions) should take corresponding protective measures based on the ignition temperature, flash point, explosion limit, and other properties of the flammable and explosive media.
4. The General Rules have added requirements for anti-static and electric injury prevention. For production equipment in explosion hazardous areas and other production equipment that can generate static electricity hazards, corresponding measures such as grounding, neutralization, and bridging should be taken to eliminate static electricity hazards.
5. The General Rules have added relevant content on environmental protection facilities. For production equipment that can generate dust or other toxic and harmful substances in the production process (including three-waste treatment), mechanization, automation, and closed devices should be prioritized to complete feeding, unloading, and other operations. Absorption, purification, and emission devices or interfaces connected to purification and emission systems should be set up to ensure that the workplace and the concentration of harmful substances emitted meet the requirements; For closed systems containing toxic and harmful substances, measures should be taken to prevent running, emitting, dripping, and leaking. In workplaces where acute occupational poisoning may occur, automatic alarm or detection devices should be designed based on the level of technological development of automatic alarm devices. For production equipment and associated environmental protection facilities that pose serious hazards to dust and toxic substances during the generation process, accident handling devices and emergency protective facilities should be installed and installed.

2. < Specification for Safety Management of Personal Protective Equipment > (2025-01-01)

The Specification for Safety Management of Personal Protective Equipment (AQ 6111-2023) (hereinafter referred to as the Specification) were issued by the Ministry of Emergency Management of PRC on 20^th December 2023, and has been in force on 1^st January 2025. The relevant content is as follows:

1. The Specification stipulates that the safety management of personal protective equipment by employers should comply with relevant national and industry standards; Operators who are not equipped with personal protective equipment as required should not work on duty; The safe use of personal protective equipment by employers should at least meet the requirements of equipment selection, performance status, and usage methods.
2. The Specification stipulates that the process management of personal protective equipment by employers shall at least include procurement, distribution, training, use, scrapping and other links; Employers should develop personal protective equipment safety management systems or enterprise standards based on this standard and in combination with the specific situation of the unit.
3. The Specification stipulates that employers should ensure the necessary funds and resources for the provision of personal protective equipment, related training, and management of use.

Labour

1. < Notice on Average Monthly Working Hours of Workers and Calculation Method for Wages > (2025-01-01)

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has issued the Notice on Average Monthly Working Hours of Workers and Calculation Method for Wages (hereinafter referred to as the Notice) on 1^st January 2025. The Notice states that: According to the Decision on Amending the Regulation on Public Holidays for National Annual Festivals and Memorial Days by the State Council (Decree No.795 of the State Council), Festivals for all citizens has been changed from 11 days to 13 days. Hereby, average monthly working hours of workers and calculation method for wages are adjusted respectively as follows:

1. Calculation method for working hours

   Annual working days: 365 days -104 days (rest days) -13 days (official public holidays) = 248 days
   Quarterly working days: 248 days ÷ 4 quarters = 62 days / quarter
   Monthly working days: 248 days ÷ 12 months = 20.67 days / month
   Calculation of working hours: the working days of annual, quarterly or monthly × 8 hours per day respectively

2. Calculation method for wages

   According to Article 51 of PRC Labor Law, employers shall pay wages to workers on holidays. So, the calculation for daily wages or hourly wages should include 13 days of national holidays. Hereby, the calculation for daily wages and hourly wages are as follows:
   Daily wages: monthly wages income ÷ monthly days for getting payment
   Hourly wages: monthly wages income ÷ (monthly days for getting payment × 8)
   Monthly days for getting payment = (365 days - 104 days) ÷ 12 months = 21.75 days

2. < Interim Measures for the Implementation of the Flexible Retirement System > (2025-01-01)

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Central Organization Department, and the Ministry of Finance issued the Interim Measures for the Implementation of the Flexible Retirement System on 31^st December 2024, clarifying that the flexible retirement system will be implemented from 1^st January 2025.

Flexible early retirement:

• Employees who have reached the minimum monthly payment period for basic pension as stipulated by the state may voluntarily choose flexible early retirement, with a maximum lead time of 3 years from the statutory retirement age, and the retirement age shall not be lower than the original statutory retirement age of 50 or 55 for female employees and 60 for male employees.
• Employees who voluntarily choose flexible early retirement shall inform their employer in writing at least 3 months before the retirement date they have chosen.

Flexible Delayed Retirement:

• When an employee reaches the statutory retirement age, if the employer and the employee reach a consensus through consultation, they may flexibly delay retirement. The delay time shall not exceed 3 years from the statutory retirement age. The employer and the employee shall specify the delay retirement time and other matters in writing one month in advance. After the flexible delay retirement time is determined, it will not be extended again.
• During the flexible delayed retirement period, the labor or personnel relationship between the employer and the employee continues, the employer and the employee should pay social insurance premiums in full and on time and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the employees in accordance with laws and regulations such as the Labor Contract Law and the Regulations on Personnel Management of Public Institutions.
• When an employee reaches the flexible extension of retirement time, their labor or personnel relationship is terminated, and the employer shall handle the retirement procedures for them in accordance with regulations. During the period of flexible delayed retirement, the employer and the employee can agree to terminate the flexible delayed retirement and handle the retirement procedures according to regulations.

Employers shall not violate the wishes of employees, illegally force, or indirectly force employees to choose their retirement age.

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