China · regulations

Regulatory context

Partial review. This is not an exhaustive review of applicable law.

China: GB 18918-2002 and the 2025 amendment

Partial documentary review; human legal review pending. MEE announcement 2025 No. 24 modifies GB 18918-2002 and states application from 2026-03-01; it is not a renumbered standard. The annex provides a transition from 2028-01-01 for construction cohorts defined in its tables, which is neither brought forward to 2026 nor generalized to all plants. Territorial scope, effluent destination, classes and permit require review; a HydroWASTE label does not assign a legal class.

• Confirm the scope of GB 18918, provincial rules and the individual permit.
• Distinguish instantaneous values from averages; verify sampling point and the standard version applicable to the date.
• Do not assess a historical inventory against 2026 limits without measurements from the relevant period.
• Separate application from 2026-03-01 from the 2028 transition for specific cohorts; no dates, values or rules are assigned here to a facility.

• MEE · anuncio 2025 n.º24: modificación GB 18918-2002Legal text · CN; alcance concreto pendiente
• MEE · explicación oficial de la modificación, 2026-01-07Official guidance · CN; interpretación oficial de alcance general
• MEE · anexo de modificación de GB 18918-2002, apartados I/III/V/VILegal text · Texto de modificación y transición por cohortes; sin valores ni asignación individual

References reviewed: 2026-11-06. Individual applicability: undetermined. This profile does not establish authorization or compliance.