China have conducted two rounds of written consultations on the draft "Chemical Safety Law".

In March 2024, MEM issued the Guidelines for key issues in the 2024 law enforcement inspection of work safety of hazardous chemicals enterprises, which identified 32 key law enforcement inspection items, including the registration and identification management of hazardous chemicals.

The Global Chemical Inventory Search (GCIS) developed by CIRS Group supports users to search the latest inventory of chemicals globally by entering CAS number or substance name in both Chinese and English. It also provides obligation analysis for global chemical compliance. CIRS continuously monitors and updates to global chemical inventories regularly, trying to help users to know more details of compliance obligations of their substances.

The State Council has announced the Regulations on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items of the People's Republic of China, which will go into effect on December 1, 2024. The Regulations apply to the export of dual-use items. This was published in Order No. 792, following the review by the 41st executive meeting of the State Council.

Chinese authorities have published an update to the regulations for the classification and hazard communication of chemicals. This document is technically consistent with the United Nations "Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals" (GHS) Eighth revised edition (GHS 8). The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and the Standardization Administration of China (SAC) issued the first part of the GB 30000 series, titled "Specifications for Classification and Labeling of Chemicals Part 1: General Rules" (GB 30000.1-2024) on July 24, 2024. This standard is set to replace the General Rules for Classification and Hazard Communication of Chemicals (GB 13690-2009), which generally follows GHS 4 and will come into effect on August 1, 2025.

On August 5, 2024, China's Ministry of Public Security and five other departments jointly issued a notice regarding the addition of seven substances to the Regulation on the Administration of Precursor Chemicals (henceforth managed as precursor chemicals). The specific substances include N-phenylpiperidin-4-amine, 1-N-Boc-4-(Phenylamino)piperidine, Norfentanyl, Cannabidiol, BMK glycidic acid and its esters, 3-oxo-2-phenylbutanoic acid and its esters, and PMK glycidic acid esters. The specific administration measures will take effect from September 1, 2024.

China issued a notice announcing the nationwide pilot of the "batch inspection" reform for the packaging of exported hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods.

No.1 amendment to "Requirements of Concentration Limits for Certain Restricted Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products" will officially come into effect on January 1, 2026.

China’s chemical inventory of existing chemical substances is IECSC, which stands for the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances Produced or Imported in China (IECSC). There are two parts of IECSC, public part and classified/confidential part. Companies can check out the public part by themselves and shall only enquire Authorities for classified/confidential part. If substances are not listed in the public part, companies have to submit a formal enquiry to SCC to check whether a substance is listed in the confidential part. The enquiry costs 3000 RMB.

On May 20, 2024, China's Ministry of Ecological Environment (MEE) announced the addition of a batch of 34 registered substances that fulfill the requirements of existing substances into the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (IECSC). CIRS warmly reminds you that related enterprises must make sure whether their substances are existing substances. The Provisions on Environmental Administration of New Chemical Substances (MEE Order 12) require enterprises to complete new substance registration/record before manufacturing or importing, or they may face various punishments.