In March 2026, the Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China was officially passed and will come into effect on August 15th. This is the second law in China named "Code" after the Civil Code, which provides systematic regulations on the management of catering fumes:

Clear site selection red line: It is prohibited to construct catering projects that generate oil fumes in residential buildings, commercial and residential complexes without dedicated smoke ducts, and other areas;

Clarify the three pronged approach of "installation+use+compliance": catering operators must install oil fume purification facilities and maintain normal operation to ensure compliance with emissions standards;

Clear penalty standards: Failure to install or use purification facilities properly will result in a fine of 5000 to 50000 yuan; New projects built in prohibited areas shall be ordered to close and fined between 10000 and 100000 yuan.

At the same time, emission standards in various regions continue to become stricter. Beijing has required that the concentration of cooking fumes at catering outlets should not exceed 1.0mg/m ³, far below the national standard of 2.0mg/m ³. Multiple regions have started online monitoring of oil fumes, achieving an upgrade from "human defense" to "technical defense".