The State Council approved the National Tenth Five-Year Plan for Environmental Protection on 26 December 2001, requesting that loca1 governments and the various departments strengthen environmental protection in close relation with the economic restructuring; raise funds for environmental protection through multiple channels in connection with the expansion of domestic demand, and establish the mechanism of environmental protection with the government playing the dominant role with market promotion and public participation. The State Council emphasizes that local governments should undertake the major responsibilities of environmental protection. The governments at various levels should integrate the tasks of the Plan into the target responsibility system for provincial governors, mayors, and county heads. Periodic examination should be carried out on the targets of total pollutant discharge control and environmental quality. The implementation of the Plan should be inspected and reported on every year. The State Council requests that the relevant departments should provide guidance and support in implementing the Plan according to their respective responsibilities. The State Environmental Protection Administration should conduct coordinated supervision, management, and inspection of the implementation of the Plan.

This law is established for the purpose of protecting and improving public health and environmental ecology, preventing and controlling pollution and other public hazards, safeguarding human health, and facilitating the development of socialist modernization in China.