ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the key areas of the laws and regulations regarding animals in contemporary China. This basic legal regime consists of various laws and other stipulations associated with different types of animals including wildlife, animals used for research, and to a much lesser extent, farm animals, companion animals, and other working animals. However, these laws and regulations are made primarily for regulating the utilisation of animals for human purposes, not focusing on animal welfare, and China still does not have any anti-cruelty legislation. Nevertheless, some of the laws are slowly evolving together with the attitudes towards animals in China over the past decade, and more Chinese have increasingly become interested in animal welfare and have started to reconsider human–animal relations and how animals should be treated in the changing Chinese society.
