China Publishes First Law on Safety of Hazardous Chemicals

By Lily Hou, PhD., CHMM, Regulatory Affairs Lead, Supply Chain Team, UL Solutions

On Dec. 27, 2025, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress approved the Hazardous Chemicals Safety Law, effective from May 1, 2026. The new Law is China’s first legislation dedicated solely to the management of hazardous chemicals.

Once in force, the new law will fully replace the “Regulations on Safe Management of Hazardous Chemicals” (Decree No. 591) as the legal basis for hazardous chemical safety in China. Compared with the State Council's administrative regulations under Decree No. 591, the law is at a higher level in the Chinese legislative hierarchy, with greater legal power and enforceability.

The law establishes a comprehensive legal framework covering the lifecycle of hazardous chemicals, including the planning and facility layout, the manufacture, storage, sale, use, transport, and registration of hazardous chemicals, as well as emergency response to accidents involving hazardous chemicals. It further clarifies the division of responsibilities among relevant government authorities in the management of hazardous chemical safety and strengthens the layout and safety supervision of chemical industry parks.

A key change under the law is the emphasis on ensuring safety through preventative planning at the source. Unless exempted, any new hazardous chemical production and expansion projects must be located within a designated chemical industrial park. This concentrates risks in areas with established safety systems and professional oversight, reducing distributed risks in residential or mixed-use regions. All hazardous chemicals entering and leaving the parks must be tracked, and real-time risk monitoring must be conducted to enable early warning and preventative actions. Industrial parks must conduct a comprehensive safety risk assessment at least once every three years.

The law introduces an exemption to the hazard chemical registration requirement. Hazardous chemical products used in research and development; trial production and trial sales can be exempted from the registration if they are produced and released in low quantities and pose low exposure risks. However, the law doesn't specify quantitative thresholds or administrative procedures for applying the exemption. Implementation measures covering the exemption are expected to be formulated by the Ministry of Emergency Management in conjunction with other agencies.

Regarding the SDS and labeling requirements, the current rules remain in effect: manufacturers and importers of hazardous chemicals must provide SDSs and labels in accordance with the relevant National Standards in the Chinese language. SDSs and labels must be updated in a timely manner if any new hazard information about the chemical is available.

While the new law sets broad principles and legal duties, implementation rules in the form of regulations, administrative measures or national standards are anticipated to be developed or updated to provide procedure details for enforcement.

Reference

Hazardous Chemicals Safety Law (危险化学品安全法)