The Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Environmental Protection recently released its “Guidelines for Environmental Protection in Foreign Investment and Cooperation“. The Guidelines are to “guide enterprises in China to raise their environmental protection awareness, and to understand and observe environmental protection policies and regulations of the host country in foreign investment and cooperation, so as to realize mutual benefits”.Based on recommendations by a Chinese NGO, Global Environmental Institute, the Guidelines consider a range of topics, including respect for community religious beliefs, cultural traditions and national customs, international standards, environmental protections and environmental impact assessments. The Guidelines are non-binding, but do provide civil society groups with an opportunity to hold Chinese companies responsible for their actions overseas. The Guidelines can be found here.
