China supports global environmental efforts and has played an active role in international environmental affairs. Since 1994 when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change went into effect, China has adhered to its principles in international talks on climate change, adopting measures and defending the legitimate rights of changes, adopting measures and defending the legitimate rights of China and other developing countries. China signed in May 1998 and approved in August 2002 the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and has been earnestly performing its duties. 

China signed and approved the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in May, 2001 and June, 2004 respectively, which is the third mandatory international convention that requires decrease in discharge of pollutants after Vienna Convention on the Protection of Ozone Layer in 1987 and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. Having paid great attention to persistent organic pollutants, the Chinese government organized a leading team of drawing up the national implementation plans. The State Environmental Protection Administration specially established the leading team and office of implementing protocols. China will take necessary legitimate, administrative and technical measures to reduce, control and dispose of persistent organic pollutants; and will handle them in a safe, effective and hazard-free way. 

As a member state of the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), China has maintained close cooperative relationship with the organization, an international fund-management partnership founded in 1992 that has become the largest investor in the world in the fields of international environmental protection. China is also one of the few donators among the developing countries, having played an active role in fund-raising. At the same time, the GEF has provided financial and technological assistance in helping China to protect the environment and fulfill international treaties. With the help of GEF, China has undertaken dozens of projects while receiving some several hundred million US dollars in donating from the GEF. This made China the biggest beneficiary of the GEF.

Non-governmental environmental protection organizations from various countries in the world, such as the World Wide Fund for Nature and International Fund for Animal Welfare, have cooperated with relevant Chinese authorities and non-governmental organizations in various fields, and achieved positive results. 

China first created the mode of "China Council for Cooperation on Environment and Development" in the world, which consists of some 40 experts and acts as a senior consultancy for the government. Since its establishment more than a decade ago, it has made many constructive proposals to the Chinese government and is respected abroad for its international environmental cooperation. 

In 2005, the State Environmental Protection Administration awarded the "International Cooperation Prize of Environmental Protection" to three international friends who made great contribution to China's environmental protection. They were: Kruger, Director of the Research Center of International Environment Management of Technology University of Dresden, Andrea De Angelas, Italian Project Manager of the Beijing Office of the Sino-Italian Cooperation Program for Environmental Protection and Vice President Hau-sing Tse of the Canadian International Development Agency.

During 2004 and 2005, China intensified its international environmental cooperation; the State Environmental Protection Administration organized 90 major international events relating to environmental protection and China paid mutual environmental visits to countries such as Japan, Korea, Canada, France, Italy, Norway, Russia, and Sweden. It concluded 12 international environmental protocols and multi-lateral environmental negotiations; as one of the 12-member lead team of the Coordinating Mechanism of Regional Cooperation in Asia, the State Environmental Protection Administration energetically promoted ASEAN-China, Japan and Korea, and ASEAN-China environmental cooperation as well as Mekong River environmental cooperation; it started the China-EU Ministerial Dialogue on Environmental Policies, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Scientific and Technological Cooperation for Environmental Protection with the US Environmental Protection Agency and took part in WTO negotiations on trade and environment.