AUTHOR=Jin Ze , Yu Miaohong 

TITLE=China’s land-sea environmental regulatory system: reforms and impacts

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1576297

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2025.1576297

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=The updated “Marine Environment Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China,” effective from January 1, 2024, emphasizes enhanced land and marine development in a coordinated way. The revised law has been amended from the original ten chapters comprising 97 articles to nine chapters comprising 124 articles, with an addition of 27 clauses. In particular, the original law had only 3 clauses related to regulatory bodies, which increased to 8 after the revision. Chapter II Supervision and Control over the Marine Environment has added 4 clauses and revised 4 clauses to pursue coordinated land and marine development and regional linkage. As for marine ecological protection, there are 3 new clauses in Chapter III. Through specifying authorities’ responsibilities, fostering a coherent approach to land-sea environmental governance, and bolstering ecological safeguards, these amendments fill a gap in regulations concerning land and marine development in a coordinated way. On this basis, the implementation of the new law will promote a positive interaction between the marine economy and the land-based economy, and facilitate the collaborative governance of ecological environments in both terrestrial and marine areas.