G/TBT/W/653  
 
16 July 2019  
(19-4730) Page: 1/1 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
CHINA - CATALOGUE OF  SOLID WASTES FORBID DEN TO IMPORT INTO C HINA  
STATEMENT BY CHINA TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIER S TO TRADE  
20 AND 21 JUNE 2019  
The following communication, dated 15 July 2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of China. 
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China has been pushing for ecological progress, pro -actively practicing the values of "sustainable 
development" and "green development" in order to meet the Chinese peopl e's ever -growing need 
for a beautiful eco -environment, and aiming to solve significant outstanding environmental 
problems. Advancing the reform of the solid wastes import administration regime is one of the most 
important steps that the Chinese government has taken to implement the New Development Ideas, 
and to safeguard the eco -environment safety and population health.  
In accordance with internationally recognized principles, each member has the obligation to 
handle and dispose of the wastes it has generat ed on its own. China, as a developing member with 
the largest population, must make the inevitable choice of restricting and prohibiting imports of solid 
wastes while improving its own domestic solid wastes treatment and disposal. Current scientific 
studie s indicate that the residues resulting from the recycling and disposal of solid wastes and their 
carried wastes may pose various risks to human, animal, and plant life and health, as well as to the 
environment. China still allows the normal trade flow of r aw materials processed from solid wastes, 
but the import of solid wastes must be strictly controlled and regulated in order to reduce the risks 
to human, animal, and plant life and health as well as to the eco -environment caused by solid wastes 
to the maxi mum extent possible. Since solid wastes have already significantly increased the burden 
on China's eco -environment and had huge negative impacts on human, animal, and plant life and 
health, China considers that merely reforming the domestic regulation of s olid wastes would not be 
sufficient for achieving our purpose of safeguarding the ecological safety and population health to 
the maximum extent possible.  
In the process of adjusting the relevant policies, the Chinese government has adequately taken 
into a ccount voices at home and abroad, and adjusted the Import Waste Management Catalogue in 
different batches. China has also set a sufficient transition period for the relevant industries, and 
has fulfilled our transparency obligations under the WTO rules. Ov er the past decades, enterprises 
from other WTO members have exported large quantities of solid wastes to China and derived huge 
financial gains. We earnestly hope that these members could also actively fulfil their international 
social responsibility and make contributions to the global environmental protection.  
At present, not only China, but also every member should follow the fundamental principle of 
disposal and absorbing the wastes it has generated on its own. Only on the basis of this principle 
can w e reach a better consensus on managing solid waste pollution and search for a solution to this 
problem. At the same time, abiding by this principle will also contribute to the promotion of the 
global green low -carbon circular development, and the creation of a clean and beautiful world.  
 
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