Strengthening the rule of law in China to protect global public goods such as the environment and climate

Context

China’s rapid economic development has led to huge prosperity gains but has also been accompanied by increasing environmental pollution. Despite significant progress, China’s legislation on environmental protection and climate action still has major gaps. For example, it has no dedicated climate protection act. Legal regulation is also required for other ‘global public goods’, such as global health and a fair and sustainable economic and trade system.

Global public goods benefit not just individual states but all countries, people and generations. To better protect global public goods, Germany therefore has an interest in supporting China's legal reforms, because better laws and more rule of law in China also benefit German businesses.

While China’s understanding of the rule of law differs from European models, China still looks to Germany regarding legal reforms, not only in its approaches to legislation, but also to the German methodology of a coherent, transparent and fair application of the law.

Objective

German and European legal solutions are being adopted in China’s reforms and contribute to the protection of global public goods, especially the environment and climate.

Approach

The project operates at three levels:
 

1. Facilitating dialogue formats on the need for action and regulatory approaches regarding the protection of global public goods.
2. Working with pro-reform elements within the Chinese legal system, thereby introducing European legal concepts into important legislative proposals. For example, solutions on tackling marine litter and for effective emissions trading are put forward during consultations on environmental law.
3. Sharing methodological and specialised knowledge to improve the rule of law and gender-equitable application of laws, particularly for the protection of global public goods.

Last updated: February 2025