The reconstruction of animals' legal status in China's Ecological and Environmental Code: breakthroughs and limitations under the paradigm of ecological holism
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This paper examines how China’s Ecological and Environmental Code reconstructs the legal status of animals in the context of contemporary environmental and animal law. Guided by the principles of Ecological Civilisation and a Community of Life between Humans and Nature, the Code departs from traditional instrumental and utilitarian approaches. Through textual and comparative analysis, the study concludes that the Code promotes a threefold reimagining of the legal status of animals — covering wildlife, farmed animals and ecologically connected animals — by presenting them as functional elements within an ecological relational network rather than as mere legal objects. However, there are still institutional limitations, including the absence of explicit animal welfare legislation, unclear liability mechanisms and weak enforcement coordination. Unlike Western rights-based models, China adopts an integrative, ecologically holistic approach that revitalises indigenous ethical resources and offers an alternative framework for global animal governance.
DOI: 10.36151/dalps.124
Authors: Chen Wang, Mengqiu Huang
Institution: Chengdu University of Technology
Language: English
Topic: Animal Law and Welfare
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7165770493