• Under the coordination of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the three major stock exchanges including Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing officially released the Self-regulatory Guidelines for Listed Companies - Preparation of Sustainability Reports which aims to help listed companies establish a sound sustainability governance structure and management process and provide a toolbox and a treasure-book for the preparation of high-quality sustainability (ESG) reporting.
• The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and 14 other departments jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting Compliance Awareness and Strengthening Compliance Management in Small and Medium-Size Enterprises, aiming to promote SMEs (small and medium-size enterprise) to strengthen compliance management and promote the sustainable and healthy development of SMEs.
• In order to promote the voluntary disclosure of corporate greenhouse gas information, effectively stimulate enterprises' internal motivation to control greenhouse gas emissions and actively respond to climate change, and drive enterprises to independently reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Opinions on Promoting Voluntary Disclosure of Corporate Greenhouse Gas Information has been jointly gazetted by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China, and the National Administration for Financial Regulation.
•  In order to further strengthen the environmental governance of hazardous waste, rigorously prevent and control environmental risks associated with hazardous waste, safeguard ecological and environmental safety, and promote the construction of a Beautiful China, the General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the Guiding Opinions on Further Strengthening the Environmental Governance of Hazardous Waste and Tightly Preventing and Controlling Environmental Risks.
• The Criteria for Major Accident Potential of Special Equipment Judgment (GB 45067-2024) specifies the terminology, definitions, and criteria for determining major accident potential of special equipment.
• The Technical Specification for Safety Monitoring of Major Hazard Source of Hazardous Chemicals (GB 17681-2024) strengthens the safety risk control of major hazard source of hazardous chemicals to prevents and suppresses major accidents.
• Updated Minimum Wage Standard of Guizhou Province, Guangdong Province, and Fujian Province.

Comprehensive

< Self-regulatory Guidelines for Listed Companies - Preparation of Sustainability Reports >

< Guiding Opinions on Promoting Compliance Awareness and Strengthening Compliance Management in Small and Medium-Size Enterprises >

Environment

< Opinions on Promoting Voluntary Disclosure of Corporate Greenhouse Gas Information >

< Guiding Opinions on Further Strengthening the Environmental Governance of Hazardous Waste and Tightly Preventing and Controlling Environmental Risks >

Health and Safety

< Criteria for Major Accident Potential of Special Equipment Judgment > (GB 45067-2024)

< Technical Specification for Safety Monitoring of Major Hazard Source of Hazardous Chemicals > (GB 17681-2024)

Minimum Wage Standard Update

Guizhou Province, Guangdong Province, and Fujian Province

Comprehensive

1. < Self-regulatory Guidelines for Listed Companies - Preparation of Sustainability Reports > (2025-01-17)

The Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing Stock Exchanges have officially released the Self-regulatory Guidelines for Listed Companies - Preparation of Sustainability Reports (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines) on 17^th January 2025. The Guidelines cover two specific documents: No.1: General Requirements and Disclosure Framework and No.2: Responding to Climate Change, which are the general requirements and norms for sustainable information disclosure and the guidance requirements for addressing specific issues related to climate change respectively. Its framework is consistent with the S1 (General Requirements - Sustainable disclosure of financial information) and S2 (Climate-related disclosure) documents of IFRS ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board), highlighting its alignment with international standards and broader practicality and reference.

In April 2024, the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing Stock Exchanges released the Guidance on Sustainable Supervision of Listed Companies - Sustainability Reports (Trial) (hereinafter referred to as the Guidance), which systematically regulates the disclosure requirements of sustainability report of listed companies. With the official release of the Guidelines, a preliminary system of sustainable information disclosure rules for listed companies has been formed, with the Guidance as mandatory and bottom-line requirements, the Guidelines as reference standards, and typical practice recommendations.

The Guidelines takes the Guidance as the basic framework, and further suggest the workflow and key points of report disclosure on this basis, providing reference for listed companies to prepare sustainability reports. It does not add additional mandatory disclosure requirements beyond the Guidance and without increasing the disclosure burden of listed companies.

The No.1: General Requirements and Disclosure Framework focuses on providing detailed guidance for the preparation of reports, including the steps for identifying and analyzing the significance of issues, how to establish a sustainability governance structure, information reporting and supervision mechanism, reference methods or examples for conducting the "four elements" analysis, and reference disclosure methods for the overall framework and specific issues of the report.

The No.2: Responding to Climate Change combining the characteristics of the topic of "addressing climate change" and provides methods and processes for assessing the importance and financial significance of climate related impacts, the main steps and analysis methods for climate related scenario analysis, and the process and methods for calculating greenhouse gas emissions. It also clarifies 22 specific disclosure points based on the "four elements" disclosure framework.

2. < Guiding Opinions on Promoting Compliance Awareness and Strengthening Compliance Management in Small and Medium-Size Enterprises > (2025-03-13)

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and 14 other departments jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting Compliance Awareness and Strengthening Compliance Management of Small and Medium-size Enterprises (hereinafter referred to as the Guiding Opinions) on 13^th March 2025.

The Guiding Opinions propose to promote the high-quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises as the main line, adhere to problem orientation, demand driven, systematic concept, legal thinking, departmental coordination, and top-down linkage, guide small and medium-sized enterprises to enhance compliance awareness, strengthen compliance construction, improve compliance management level, and prevent production and operation risks.

The Guiding Opinions clarify the key areas of compliance management, including the compliance for labor employment, finance and taxation, product and service quality, safety production, energy conservation and environmental protection, intellectual property, network and data security, company governance, international operations, and supply chain.

The Guiding Opinions require that by 2030, the environment for compliance development of SMEs will be further optimized, the working system of compliance services for SMEs will be basically formed, enterprises will basically have the awareness and capability of compliance management to meet the requirements of high-quality development, the level of operation in accordance with the law will be significantly improved, and compliance will become an important part of the core competitiveness of SMEs.

Environment

1. < The Opinions on Promoting Voluntary Disclosure of Corporate Greenhouse Gas Information > (2025-02-21)

The Opinions on Promoting Voluntary Disclosure of Corporate Greenhouse Gas Information (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions) has been jointly gazetted by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China, and the National Administration for Financial Regulation on 21^st February 2025. The main contents are as below:

1) Key tasks of the Opinions 

• Establish a technical specification system for corporate greenhouse gas information disclosure, accelerate the construction of a national database of greenhouse gas emission factors, improve the accounting methods and reporting guidelines for greenhouse gas emissions of key industries, formulate the first set of criteria for corporate sustainable disclosure - climate, and develop relevant standards for product carbon footprint accounting and information disclosure.
• Expand the forms and channels for corporate greenhouse gas information disclosure, enhance the convenience of corporate disclosure of greenhouse gas information by standardizing reporting formats, facilitating disclosure channels, and encouraging temporary disclosures, and guide a better match between the "supply" of corporate disclosures and the "demand" for market use.
• Enrich the application scenarios for corporate greenhouse gas information disclosure, improve the authentication mechanism of GHG information voluntarily disclosed by corporations, support and encourage various market entities to enhance the application of corporate greenhouse gas information in areas such as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings and evaluations, green consumption, green trade, green finance, and product carbon footprint accounting, and encourage financial institutions to explore and develop relevant green financial products and services based on corporate greenhouse gas information.
• Encourage and guide third-party institutions to provide market-oriented services for corporate greenhouse gas information disclosure and strengthen the development and innovation of relevant products and services based on the disclosed information.
• Encourage the development of voluntary enterprise GHG information disclosure on an early and pilot basis, support pilot regions such as low-carbon pilot provinces and cities, climate-resilient cities, and climate investment and financing pilot areas to explore and carry out voluntary disclosure work in accordance with local conditions and encourage key emission industry associations to organize industry enterprises to pioneer voluntary disclosure of greenhouse gas information.
• Strengthen international cooperation in corporate greenhouse gas information disclosure and enhance the coordination, convergence, mutual recognition of technical specifications for corporate greenhouse gas information disclosure with relevant international standards.

2) Implementation Guarantee Mechanism for the Opinions 

• Form a collaborative effort among departments. All relevant departments should coordinate and promote the construction of policy systems, the formulation of technical specifications, and international exchanges and cooperation related to corporate greenhouse gas information disclosure. They should strengthen policy coherence and work synergy, enhance support and guidance for enterprises, and continuously pool collaborative efforts.
• Strengthen social oversight. Encourage the public to offer suggestions and improvements regarding voluntary corporate greenhouse gas information disclosure, guide social organizations and public media to monitor and evaluate disclosure efforts, and prompt enterprises to continuously refine and enhance their disclosure practices.
• Strengthen publicity and guidance. Innovate publicity formats and leverage events such as World Environment Day (5th June), National Low-Carbon Day, and the "China Corner" at the United Nations Climate Change Conference to promote typical cases and beneficial experiences in greenhouse gas information disclosure, creating a favorable atmosphere for enterprises to proactively engage in greenhouse gas information disclosure.

2. < Guiding Opinions on Further Strengthening the Environmental Governance of Hazardous Waste and Tightly Preventing and Controlling Environmental Risks > (2025-02-25)

The Guiding Opinions on Further Strengthening the Environmental Governance of Hazardous Waste and Tightly Preventing and Controlling Environmental Risks (hereinafter referred to as the Guiding Opinions) has been gazetted by the General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on 25^th February 2025.The main contents are as below:

1) Target of the Guiding Opinions

• By 2026, full coverage of information-based supervision throughout the entire process will be achieved for key hazardous waste environmental regulatory units nationwide,
• By 2027, basically full coverage of information-based supervision throughout the entire process will be achieved for units related to hazardous waste nationwide, with a steady decline in the proportion of hazardous waste disposed of through landfill, and further improvements in the capacity for utilization and disposal as well as the level of environmental risk prevention and control,
• By 2030, the information-based supervision system for the entire process of hazardous waste will be further improved, with the proportion of hazardous waste disposed of through landfill nationwide controlled within 10%, and effective prevention and control of environmental risks associated with hazardous waste.

2) Implementation Measures of the Guiding Opinions

• Upgrade the capacity for hazardous waste collection and disposal. Specifically addressing the imbalanced and inadequate development of hazardous waste utilization and disposal capabilities, measures are proposed to facilitate the collection and expedite the transfer of hazardous waste; dynamically improve the centralized hazardous waste disposal support system and promote the joint construction and sharing of regional disposal facilities; refine the medical waste collection and disposal system and methods, and optimize collection and disposal methods in remote areas.
• Optimize the methods of hazardous waste utilization and disposal. Specifically addressing the irrational structure of hazardous waste utilization and disposal, measures are proposed to guide the adjustment of the hazardous waste utilization and disposal structure, promote the recycling and reuse of hazardous waste; enhance the construction and operation standards of hazardous waste utilization and disposal facilities, and cultivate world-class enterprises for hazardous waste utilization and disposal; reduce the volume of hazardous waste disposed of through landfill and the proportion of landfill disposal.
• Improve the environmental management system for hazardous waste. Specifically addressing the need to further enhance the standardization, informatization, and refinement of hazardous waste environmental management, measures are proposed to implement corporate entity responsibilities, identify and rectify environmental risks and hidden dangers associated with hazardous waste, and improve environmental risk prevention and control mechanisms; strengthen real-time dynamic monitoring of the entire process of hazardous waste and collaborative governance of basic hazardous waste data; promote the classified and graded management of hazardous waste, and deepen institutional reforms and innovations.

3) Implementation Guarantee Measures for the Guiding Opinions

• Strengthening organizational implementation, requiring local ecological and environmental departments at all levels to improve organizational mechanisms, guiding and supervise relevant enterprises to strictly implement hazardous waste environmental management systems, enhancing hazardous waste environmental governance, and rigorously prevent and control environmental risks associated with hazardous waste.
• Deepen scientific and technological support by strengthening the deployment of research and development projects on hazardous waste environmental risk prevention and control, as well as utilization and disposal technologies. Accelerate the exertion of the technical support role of national and six regional hazardous waste environmental risk prevention and control technology centers.
• Strengthen the synergy between supervision, monitoring, and law enforcement, continuously crack down on environmental violations involving hazardous waste, and enhance public and social organization participation through taking measures such as reporting rewards.

Health and Safety

1. < Criteria for Major Accident Potential of Special Equipment Judgment > (GB 45067-2024) (2024-12-01)

The Criteria for Major Accident Potential of Special Equipment Judgment (GB 45067-2024) (hereinafter referred to as the Criteria) was jointly issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Standards Committee on 28^th November 2023, and has come into force on 1^st December 2024. The relevant contents are as follows:

According to the Criteria, if special equipment continues to be used under any of the following circumstances, it should be judged as a major accident potential:

1. Special equipment is produced without a license, phased out by the state due to safety issues, scrapped, or meets the conditions for scrapping.
2. Special equipment that has been involved in accidents, not be implemented comprehensive inspection and elimination of potential hazards.
3. Not in accordance with the provisions of the supervision and inspection or supervision and inspection failed.
4. There are situations where the parameters and usage range exceed those specified in the Criteria.
5. The conclusion of the periodic inspection of special equipment such as boilers, pressure vessels, lifts, lifting equipment and on-site special-purpose motor vehicles is ‘not in accordance with the requirements’.

2. < Technical Specification for Safety Monitoring of Major Hazard Source of Hazardous Chemicals > (GB 17681-2024) (2025-06-01)

The Technical Specification for Safety Monitoring of Major Hazard Source of Hazardous Chemicals (GB 17681-2024) (hereinafter referred to as the Specification) was jointly issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Standards and Technical Committee on 28^th November 2024, and will come into effect on 1^st June 2025. The original GB17681-1999 is simultaneously invalidated, and the relevant changes are as follows:

1. Added monitoring requirements for production units;
2. Added monitoring requirements for storage units;
3. Changed the requirements for instrument self-control;
4. Added requirements for television monitoring systems;
5. Added requirements for lightning and static electricity protection;
6. Increase construction requirements;
7. Deleted the requirement for laying the circuit;
8. Changed the acceptance sampling requirements;
9. Increase operational and maintenance requirements;
10. Added requirements for alarm management and optimization.

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